Great Britain’s women curlers controversially lost to Sweden after skip Eve Muirhead was penalised for not releasing the final stone before the red line.
Replays of Muirhead’s hog line violation were inconclusive but the decision stood following testing of the technology – a red flashing light on the stone – which alerts referees to any foul play.
The violation meant Team GB’s final stone was removed from play leaving Sweden to clinch victory and Muirhead later took to Twitter, posting a photo of the incident which showed her hand was clear of the stone and the stone was behind the line.
She told BBC Sport: “The red light came on. I guess when you see the replays and it looked like it was let go before. It was hard to take.
“It was the first stone I’ve probably ever hogged in my life. There’s nothing we can do. We have to move on.
“I don’t know [whether it did cross the line] – if I did, I’d be out there telling them [the officials]. When something like that happens, it makes it very tough to take and it’s gutting it finished that way.”
Coach Glenn Howard added: “I’ve only seen one replay and it looks like Eve has let go of the rock prior to the hog line and the light went off.
“It’s a horrible way to finish the game. I’ve never witnessed Eve Muirhead have a hog line violation ever.”
The loss leaves Britain with three wins out of six with three more round-robin matches to come – against Switzerland on Monday, Japan on Tuesday and Canada on Wednesday.
The top four sides qualify for the semi-finals with Team GB currently sitting fourth.
