Athletes of Japan celebrate after winning curling woman's semifinal against Switzerland at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics at the National Aquatics center in Beijing, China, Feb.18, 2022. (Xinhua/Zhou Mi)
Britain upset defending champion Sweden to book a final clash with Japan in women's curling.
BEIJING, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- Britain and Japan will fight for the women's team curling gold medal after their semifinal victories at Beijing 2022 here on Friday evening.
Britain defeated Sweden 12-11, while Japan saw off Switzerland 8-6.
Switzerland took a 2-1 lead entering the fifth end, where Japan swallowed four points with a double takeout, and scored one more point in the sixth to move ahead 6-2.
Switzerland bounced back at 6-5 in the seventh end with a stable hit-and-stay, but failed to reverse the situation as Japanese skip Satsuki Fujisawa played some splendid draws in the following ends.
Eve Muirhead (C) of Britain curls the stone during curling woman's semifinal of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics against Sweden at the National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China, Feb.18, 2022. (Xinhua/Huang Xiaobang)
Japan reached the final for the first time in Olympic curling history, and a bronze at PyeongChang 2018 was its first medal.
"We're very happy to qualify for the final, especially with the full swing of our line-up in PyeongChang 2018. It's really wonderful for us to fight together," said Yurika Yoshida.
"Tomorrow is my birthday, and their victory is my best present," commented James Douglas Lind, coach of the Japanese team.
The final will be held on Sunday, also the closing date of the Beijing Winter Olympics. ■
