Smith’s rink improving despite loss to Sweden

British curling skip Kyle Smith paid the price for untimely mistakes as he slipped to a second defeat against Sweden.

Niklas Edin’s experienced rink outclassed Team Smith in the final of the European Championships last year but this was a much closer encounter, the British team finally going down 8-6.

GB coach Viktor Kjell’s team dominated the first five ends but Edin seized the advantage in the sixth end with a triple that swung the momentum decisively in his favour.

However, Smith was determined to accentuate the positives, with his team sitting joint third in the overall standings. Edin’s Sweden and Kevin Koe’s Canada – considered the most likely finalists – both remain unbeaten.

“I think we’ve been getting stronger with each game,” said Smith, below. “There’s just a few things that we need to change and just tighten up on but there’s positives to take. “There’s a long way to go and we’ve played arguably three of the best teams. Won two, lost two, it could be a lot better but it could be a lot worse as well.

“I think we took a lot of our chances but we played well together and worked well together. If we can keep playing like that, we’ll be in a good place.”

Next up are hosts Korea, who are winless in their four games but pushed Canada the distance yesterday.

“We can’t make silly errors, especially against Niklas, who is one of the best in the world,” said Kjell. “I felt like we were the better team and we’ve let one slip away a bit. I’m very proud of how the guys played because definitely this was another step in the right direction.”

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