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Sunday, 17 February, 2002, 01:04 GMT
GB men slump to further defeat
Click here for men's draw nine results
By BBC Sport Online's Mike Haggerty
With their semi-final hopes in tatters, the gloom descended even further on the British men's team when they went down to their sixth loss, by 4-10 to Switzerland.
They are now firmly rooted in ninth place, with only France below them.
"It's just not happening for us", said a bewildered skip Warwick Smith after the game.
The British team now face France and then USA to conclude a programme that they clearly wish was already over.
Meanwhile, the pace for semi-final places among those teams still in contention continues to increase.
Table -topping Canada were given a bye in the latest draw and Norway took advantage of that to draw level with them on six wins when they beat Germany by 10-5.
In this game, German skip Sebastian Stock had to go off the ice in the second half of the game, feeling unwell and leaving his three teams mates to continue.
The game between Finland and Sweden produced two outstanding ends.
Sweden took an immediate lead, stealing four shots without the last stone in the first end when Finland were too ambitious.
After this, Sweden's Peter Lindholm nearly wrote himself into the history books when his attempt to score an unprecedented maximum eight shots from one end just failed when his final stone was a couple of millimetres too straight.
Against such shooting, not surprisingly Finland conceded after just six ends, with the score at 11-4. Denmark continued to battle away, with a 90-7 extra end win over USA.
These results mean that behind joint leaders Canada and Norway, and third-placed Sweden, three teams on four wins - Germany, Finland and Switzerland - are battling for the last semi-final slot, as are USA on three wins.
The draw has given Rhona Martin's women a bye in the next session. When they return to the ice, they will face a USA team that will have the noisy home crowd behind them as they battle for survival.
Switzerland 10-4 Great Britain
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