PINEROLO, Italy — Pete Fenson missed with the final rock of the night and Finland overcame the big, last-throw advantage to steal a 4-3 victory from the United States on Monday and leave both countries 1-1 in the opening round of the Olympic curling tournament. The U.S. team beat defending Olympic champion Norway 11-5 in its first match.
The Americans and Finns were 3-3 after nine of 10 regulation ends — or innings. The team with the last rock, called the hammer, is expected to score at least one point by getting closest to the middle of the target. The Fins kept leaving stones in the target area, hoping to keep the Americans from holding serve.
With three rocks left to play, Fenson then slid his stone into the top of the target area, or house, protecting another yellow U.S. rock but leaving a red Finnish one closest to the button.
The Fins' Markku Uusipaavalniemi — most call him U-15, rather than try to pronounce or spell his name — blocked the top of the house, and Fenson went back to throw the last rock of the night.
Vice skip Joe Shuster put his broom down to indicate the play. Fenson took his position in the push-off blocks. He slid the rock down the sheet, but it curled a few inches wide left of its target and failed to knock a U.S. stone into the middle.
The rest of the night session had Canada beat Germany 10-5 in nine ends; each team had a bye in the morning. Britain beat New Zealand, also 10-5 in nine ends. Sweden beat Italy 7-5 to improve to 2-0 and drop the hosts to 0-2.
In the early game, Fenson and the U.S. men's curling team had the worst possible start and the best conceivable finish against Norway. A whopping five-pointer in the eighth end Monday gave the Americans an 11-5 lead that forced Norway to concede with two frames to go.
WOMEN'S CURLING
NORWAY 11, UNITED STATES 6: The U.S. women's curling team just ain't got that swing.
Frustrated by fast ice that kept their stones from swinging around the sheet, the Americans squandered a 4-1 lead in their Olympic opener Monday and lost 11-6 to Norway.
"It's good ice, but fast," American vice-skip Jamie Johnson said. "We had control of the game in the beginning. We should have kept the control."
They led 4-1 after four ends but the Norwegians picked up three points in the fifth when Johnson failed to knock a stone away from the target and put it closer instead, then left her second shot short.
Defending champion Britain opened with a 3-2 victory over Denmark and Switzerland beat Italy 11-4 in eight ends.