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From the Olympics Toword Tomorrow
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Denmark, Sweden win in Olympic women's curling prelims
(Kazakoshi Park Arena, Karuizawa Town)
14:00
GER 4-7 SUI
NOR 2-4 GBR
CAN 7-4 JPN
USA 2-6 SWE
Women Preliminary Round
(Kazakoshi Park Arena, Karuizawa Town)
| 9:00 NOR 2-8 SWE CAN 7-6 USA GER 5-6 DEN JPN 5-7 GBR | 19:00 DEN 9-3 GBR GER 2-9 JPN SWE 8-5 USA NOR 6-5 CAN |
World bronze medalist Denmark and Sweden posted a pair victories each Monday as curling made its debut as an official medal event in the Olympics with the start of the preliminary rounds in Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture.
Denmark edged Germany 6-5 in the first round of the women's eight-nation round-robin competition and went on to trounce Britain 9-3 in the second round while Sweden upset world silver medalist Norway 8-2 and breezed 8-5 past the United States.
World champion Canada barely held on to edge the winless United States 7-6 but later suffered a 6-5 loss in extra ends to Norway at Kazakoshi Park Arena.
Meanwhile, the Japanese team, which just missed a medal with a fourth-place finish in the world championships last April, claimed its first-ever victory at an Olympics when it overwhelmed Germany 9-2 in only seven rounds in a second-round game.
Japan had lost all four matches at the 1992 Albertville Winter Games when curling was contested as a non-medal event.
The host nation earlier succumbed 7-5 to Britain to finish the day with one win and one loss each.
In the men's first-round action, Switzerland upset Germany, the runner-up in the world meet, 7-4 while reigning world champion Sweden struggled until late in the game before clinching a 6-2 triumph over the United States.
Canada broke a 4-4 tie by scoring two points in the eighth end and held on for a 7-4 victory over host Japan while Britain downed Norway 4-2. (Kyodo News)
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Copyright 1998 The Shinano Mainichi Shimbun