Japan Beats Great Britain to Win Women's Curling Bronze Medal at 2018 Olympics

Japan beat Great Britain 5-3 to secure bronze in women's curling at the 2018 Winter Olympics on Saturday.

In a tense match, Japan skip Satsuki Fujisawa had steered her team into a 4-3 lead going into the final end. Her opposite number, Eve Muirhead, then opted to go for the win with her final stone instead of settling for an extra end.

Here's a look at the medal table following this third-place finish for Japan and a recap of another fascinating match at the Gangneung Curling Centre.

Japan Edge Past Great Britain

In the first end, Muirhead was happy to take one point instead of blanking it out, while in the second some smart play from Team GB limited Japan to a solitary point of their own.

As Colleen Jones of CBC noted, Fujisawa nearly overran a straightforward shot for one, but it clung on:

The cagey pattern of the match continued in the third end, as Great Britain were unable to set things up with the hammer. An error from Muirhead with the last stone then saw her rink take one, when they would've preferred to blank the end.

It meant the Great Britain skip had made a similar mistake a couple of times already in the match, with nerves seemingly an issue at this early stage in the bronze-medal contest.

Japan were unable to capitalise, though, as some more smart defensive play from their opponents meant only one was on offer for them in the fourth end.

In the fifth, Muirhead was a little unlucky not to get two, as she drew a delicate shot into the house with her final stone and nudged towards the button off a Japan marker. However, the Japan stone pushed another Team GB one away, meaning it was another one-point stanza.

As the Press Association's Mark Staniforth noted, neither side were giving an inch:

The tension was still there after the midpoint break, with Japan unable to score with the hammer and Team GB unable to steal. It meant that, with just three ends to go, Great Britain were able to preserve their 3-2 lead.

The contest was on a knife edge at this juncture:

Japan appeared to be growing in confidence as the match moved on, and after levelling things up at 3-3, they picked up a steal of one in the penultimate end.

Muirhead missed a plant to blank the end, as a tremendous setup shot from Fujisawa applied the pressure to her opposing captain. Britain had the hammer in the final end, but they trailed 4-3. As BBC Sport's Alasdair Lamont noted, it was a big error:

It meant a point was needed for Team GB in the last end, and after 15 of 16 shots were played, they were in place to do exactly that, with Muirhead throwing last.

Yet instead of playing conservatively and taking the match into an extra end, she went for a risky shot that would've give Great Britain the two points needed to win. 

The bold strategy didn't pay off, though, as Muirhead knocked the Japanese stone into scoring position and one of her own out.