Olympics-Curling-Britain's men beat Germany, champions Sweden lose again

By Aadi Nair

CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Bruce Mouat's British men's team picked up a 9-4 round-robin win over Germany at the Winter Games on Sunday, while Olympic champions Sweden suffered their fourth loss of the campaign to leave their title defence on the brink.

World champions Britain took a 4-2 lead in the fourth end and never looked back, beating 2024 European champions Germany to record a fourth win at the Games.

"It's a young team. We've had lots of battles over them the last two, three, four seasons. We know it's always going to be a sticky one and a battle out there," said Britain's Hammy McMillan.

Britain have won four out of their five games so far, losing only to Italy. They are second in the standings behind Switzerland, who have four wins out of four.

"We can't complain to be honest. Only one little hiccup against Italy," McMillan added.

"I think our level of performance in that game was the same it has been in the other four. We're in a good position, we're playing well, we're playing consistently."

The increased officiating in the wake of cheating accusations levied by Sweden against Canada also had an impact on the game, with Britain's Bobby Lammie having a stone removed for double touching.

The removal of the stone occurred in the ninth end and had little effect on the outcome.

Niklas Edin's Sweden, who won gold in Beijing four years ago, struggled to read the conditions of the ice at the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium as they slipped to an 8-5 defeat at the hands of a young United States team.

Hosts Italy were beaten 10-7 by Norway.

SWEDISH WOMEN CONTINUE WINNING RUN

While the Swedish men's team has been struggling, the Anna Hasselborg-led women's team has made a flying start to the competition, beating Britain 10-7 to clinch their fifth straight win and cement their position atop the standings.

Madeleine Dupont's Denmark were 7-2 winners over Italy, who conceded with two ends remaining, while South Korea's Gim Eun-ji ensured a 7-5 win over Japan with the last shot of the game.

Tabitha Peterson's United States fought back from a 4-1 deficit at the halfway mark to beat China 6-5.

Teams play nine matches in the round-robin stage, which continues later on Sunday. The top four advance to the semi-finals next week.