Curling: U.S. add to Canadian misery with semi-final win

By Steve Keating

GANGNEUNG, South Korea (Reuters) - The United States ended Canada's bid for a fourth consecutive men's Olympic curling gold medal with gritty 5-3 semi-final win over their northern neighbors on Thursday to set up a final showdown with Sweden.

There was no such drama in the other semi as Niklas Edin's foursome swept past Switzerland 9-3 in eight ends to put the Swedish rink in position to claim the one major title that has eluded them.

Kevin Koe, who twice skipped Canada to world championships, had his team on the scoreboard first and they led twice but could not put away a determined Team USA who stole a pair in the eighth end to go up 4-2 and take control.

The loss heaped more curling misery on Canada coming on the heels of the failure of Rachel Homan's women's team to reach the playoffs.

Koe's rink will take on Switzerland in the bronze medal contest while Homan's foursome will return home with the dubious distinction of being the first Canadian team, men or women, to fail to win a medal since curling became part of the Olympic program at the 1998 Nagano Winter Games.


Source : Yahoo News