Bruce Mouat guides GB men to curling semi-finals with victory over Sweden

Bruce Mouat has guaranteed his second shot at an Olympic medal after he steered his Great Britain men’s curling team to a tight 7-6 win over reigning world champions Sweden at the Beijing Aquatics Centre.

Mouat, who missed out on a mixed medal alongside Jennifer Dodds earlier in the Games, can head into the last two matches of the round-robin section secure in the knowledge that his team have done enough to reach the last four.

Mouat’s men capitalised on a blistering start, in which they went 3-0 up after the first two ends, but had to withstand a late fightback in order to see off their experienced opponents.

It handed the Swedes, who beat Mouat’s men to lift the world crown last year, their first defeat of the round-robin phase, although Niklas Edin’s men have also guaranteed their progression to the semi-finals.

Eve Muirhead kept her hopes of a second Olympic medal alive after steering her women’s team to an emphatic 10-4 win over Japan.

Muirhead went into the game knowing victory was vital to maintaining their semi-final ambitions after a frustrating defeat to Canada on Monday left them adrift of the top four.

But once again her team showed resilience in adversity to force a Japanese concession with two ends remaining, and set them up nicely for another crucial showdown on Wednesday with hosts China.

“We knew that was a very important match for us today and we came out with a lot of fire,” said Muirhead, who won bronze in Sochi in 2014. “We had a great chat after the loss to China and we knew the importance of bouncing back.”

Muirhead’s side got off to a dream start with a three in the first end and another triple in the third end effectively finished the match as a contest before the halfway stage.

“I think what we did very well was we didn’t get complacent,” added Muirhead. “We kept control of every end and every stone and saw the game out.

“I think our last two games are going to be tough. It’s always a lot harder when you’ve got the home crowd against you. But we’re enjoying every minute of it and working very hard as a team.”