Winter Olympics: Losses due to 'one bad end'

The New Zealand curling team learned a harsh lesson in their Olympic debut yesterday at the Pinerolo Stadium in Turin when one bad end in each of their opening two games cost them dearly.

First up, New Zealand lost to triple world champions Sweden 6-3 after a hard-fought struggle.

They later lost 10-5 to Great Britain in a match that was halted after nine ends when it became clear the Britons were in an unbeatable position.

Against Sweden, New Zealand more than held their own but conceded three points on the fifth end and were unable to recover.

What made the effort against Great Britain all the more regrettable was that New Zealand conceded the points when they had last rock, and should therefore have dominated the end.

New Zealand were the ninth qualifiers in the 10-team event.

"It was the same story in both games," team skip Sean Becker said. "We just had one bad end and after that we were playing catch-up."

- NZPA