British women curlers lose 10-6 to Switzerland for 3rd straight defeat after strong start

British women lose 3rd straight in Olympic curling

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — The pressure is starting to show on 19-year-old British curler Eve Muirhead.

The Scottish skip pounded a stone in frustration Sunday after giving up a four-spot to Switzerland in the Brits’ 10-6 shortened nine-end loss. It was their third straight defeat following a promising Olympic start.

Muirhead missed the winner against the U.S. when she had the final rock in a 6-5 loss to the Americans on Saturday. She also was upset with the screaming fans who made it tough on her last attempt.

“It was asking a lot of ourselves to come back from that and we did our best out there,” Muirhead said. “A lot of slack shots out there.”

The Brits (3-4) have hurt their medal hopes. They opened with a 5-4 win over world champion China and had impressive victories against France and Germany before this skid.

“It’s going to be tough to come back from that,” Muirhead said. “We are going to try to perform like we know we can. I don’t think we’re down and out yet.”

In other morning women’s matches, skip Cheryl Bernard and the unbeaten Canadians (5-0) easily handled the U.S. 9-2 in a shortened seven-end match. Next up is world champion China at night. American skip Debbie McCormick pulled herself out of the fourth position and was set to throw third against defending champion Sweden on Sunday night.

Bernard’s team is on a nice roll and had an easy one for a change. Canada’s men also are unbeaten so far.

“The men, it was expected,” Bernard said. “We were definitely the underdog with the lack of international experience. We’re getting it quick.”

Denmark edged Germany 6-5 and Japan scored three in the extra 11th end to beat Russia 12-9.