The medal hopes of the Great Britain women’s curling team took a blow in Vancouver on Saturday as they went down 6-5 to USA in an extra end defeat. The results leave both sides under pressure as they seek to make the knockout stage and the medal positions.

Team GB’s were looking to bounce back from an 11-4 defeat to Japan on Friday. Facing the USA team they found themselves in a winning position but suffered a heartbreaking defeat.

The American team had won only one of their opening four games and Britain looked set to add to that sorry record as they took an early lead. An Eve Muirhead takeout in the first end made it 1-0 and in the third US skip Debbie McCormick misjudged the hammer to leave two British stones in the house and give the British team a 3-0 lead.

McCormick got it right in the next end to make it 3-1 and when Muirhead missed a takeout in the following end USA were right back in it at 3-2. The fightback was on, and the US left Muirhead with a difficult hammer shot in the sixth and she could not do enough to prevent the scores going level at 3-3.

Muirhead was on her game in the following end, taking out her opponents stone and scoring two points to re-establish a lead but the Americans pulled another point back in the ninth. However, McCormick missed a chance to level when her hammer fell short of the house.

That handed the hammer, and the advantage, to Muirhead and looked to have given Britain the momentum to push over the finish line. The pressure seemed to tell though and Britain did not take advantage.

USA levelled and went on to win 6-5, leaving Muirhead and company with three wins and three losses with their next match, against Switzerland on Sunday, looking crucial.

A dejected Muirhead shouldered the blame for the defeat, saying: "We were in control of that whole game there and a few slack shots from myself let the whole team down.

"One up playing the last we couldn't ask more, we had an opportunity to win it then and even again in the extra end.

"I can't say that the noise affected me, although they were making a racket. It was a poor shot by myself and that cost us."

Team-mate Jackie Lockhart gave her skip support and said the team could bounce back and make the semi-finals.

"It was just an odd shot here and there that didn't pull off. I thought we played a really good game, but we let them back in,” she said.
"Debbie (USA skip Debbie McCormick) had a game of two halves. She didn't have a good start to the game but she certainly found draw weight in the latter half and that just made the difference for their team.

"That was a gut wrenching loss, especially for Eve and it will be difficult for her to take, but that's the kind of thing I'm here for.

"I have been there, done it, had the wins and had the losses. We are all behind her 100%. We play as a team, we win as a team and we lose as a team and that's the name of the game.

"Sometimes it happens. We are just going to pick ourselves up and come back out tomorrow."