Japan curlers lose to Switzerland but make semis

The Yomiuri Shimbun
Yurika Yoshida, left, and Yumi Suzuki sweep in the second end of Japan’s match against Switzerland at the National Aquatics Centre in Beijing on Thursday.

The women leading Japan’s curling team put up a solid effort against world No. 2 Switzerland, but to no avail in an 8-4 loss Thursday at the Beijing Olympics.

When South Korea later lost to Sweden, however, Japan advanced to the semifinals.

Japan briefly led 2-1 after the second end, but Switzerland showed why they finished 8-1 in the round-robin stage. The Swiss led from the fourth end on, with Japan getting as close as 5-4 with two points the seventh end. But then Switzerland scored a massive three points in the ninth end and Japan conceded during the final 10th end.