Great Britain’s men’s curling team are out of the Winter Olympics after losing to Switzerland 9-5 in a play-off clash.
Victory was needed to advance to a semi-final bout with Sweden on Thursday evening, and Kyle Smith’s rink began well, only for the Swiss to claim the ninth end 5-0 and take an unassailable advantage.
The result means Kyle Smith, his brother Cammy Smith, Kyle Waddell and Thomas Muirhead will finish fifth.
Britain had chances in the contest against a team they had beaten in the round-robin phase.
Kyle Smith’s perfectly-weighted final stone on the eighth end gave Britain a 5-4 advantage with two ends remaining.
But Switzerland scored a remarkable five in the ninth end as skip Benoit Schwarz sent his final stone through two guards to dislodge another British stone for an astonishing turnaround.
Kyle Smith’s face said it all – he knew the chance was gone and the end was nigh.
Switzerland will next play Sweden in the semi-finals on Thursday evening.
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