Britain’s Bruce Mouat and Jennifer Dodds narrowly missed out on Olympic bronze as they were beaten 5-3 by Italy in the curling mixed doubles.
After topping the round-robin stage, the British pair slumped to a 9-3 defeat the hands of Sweden in Monday’s semi-final and had to regroup for a Tuesday afternoon clash with 2022 Olympic champions Stefania Constantini and Amos Mosaner.
A missed opportunity in the first end saw Italy take an early 1-0 lead, with Britain levelling the score in the second before a perfectly-delivered final stone from Constantini in the third edged Italy back in front.
A further point for Italy in a nervy match put them 3-1 ahead at the half-way stage, although Britain secured a point in the fifth end to keep within range of their rivals.
In the sixth end, Dodds and Mouat consulted with coach Greg Drummond but the time-out did not help as Mosaner produced a winning shot to extend the Italian’s lead to 4-2.
A point in the seventh end kept Britain in the hunt but with the advantage of the hammer, Constantini secured bronze for Italy.
