Olympics: Curling - Japan win bronze to claim first Olympic medal

Curling - Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics - Women's Bronze Medal Match - Britain v Japan - Gangneung Curling Center - Gangneung, South Korea - February 24, 2018 - Japan's coach J.D. Lind celebrates with vice-skip Chinami Yoshida, skip Satsuki Fujisawa and second Yumi Suzuki after the team won. REUTERS/Cathal Mcnaughton

GANGNEUNG, South Korea (Reuters) - Japan claimed their first Olympic curling medal on Saturday when Satsuki Fujisawa's foursome scored a point in each of the final three ends to edge Britain 5-3 and win the bronze.

Japan's win guarantees Asia will have two teams on the medal podium with South Korea taking on Sweden in the gold-medal final on Sunday.

Curling - Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics - Women's Bronze Medal Match - Britain v Japan - Gangneung Curling Center - Gangneung, South Korea - February 24, 2018 - Second Yumi Suzuki of Japan delivers the stone. REUTERS/John Sibley

"It's the first medal for Japan so it's history," smiled Japan's Canadian coach J.D. Lind. "That is something this country has been trying to do since the Nagano Olympics so to finally get to do that, it's a huge day for sure.

"It's been stressful, I definitely feel for Eve Muirhead's team. They had a shot to win. I feel for her having to miss but that's curling and we'll take it."

The match was a tight, defensive, tactical affair from start to finish with neither rink putting up more than one point in an end.

Curling - Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics - Women's Bronze Medal Match - Britain v Japan - Gangneung Curling Center - Gangneung, South Korea - February 24, 2018 - Vice-skip Anna Sloan of Britain watches as skip Satsuki Fujisawa of Japan reacts after winning the match. REUTERS/John Sibley

The first mistake came in the ninth and fell to British skip Muirhead who missed on a takeout on her final rock, allowing Japan to steal a point and nose in front 4-3.

Britain needed a point to force extra ends but Japan stole another one when Muirhead misfired on her final stone trying to double the two Japan rocks out and keep hers in.

"Of course I am absolutely gutted. As a team we gave it everything, we didn't leave anything out there," said Muirhead, winner of a bronze at the 2014 Sochi Olympics. "As a skip it is hard to take when you have a shot to win.

Curling - Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics - Women's Bronze Medal Match - Britain v Japan - Gangneung Curling Center - Gangneung, South Korea - February 24, 2018 - Vice-skip Anna Sloan of Britain delivers the stone. REUTERS/John Sibley

"The shot was there, that's why I went for it. Curling comes down to inches and if that had curled another centimetre we would have had the bronze medal around our necks.

"It's going to be hard to take, I'm devastated.

"Having a bronze medal before and coming away with nothing is hard. This is going to take a bit of time."

Curling - Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics - Women's Bronze Medal Match - Britain v Japan - Gangneung Curling Center - Gangneung, South Korea - February 24, 2018 - Skip Satsuki Fujisawa of Japan and her teammates react. REUTERS/Cathal McNaughton

(Editing by Clare Fallon)

Curling - Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics - Women's Bronze Medal Match - Britain v Japan - Gangneung Curling Center - Gangneung, South Korea - February 24, 2018 - Vice-skip Anna Sloan of Britain watches the shot as her teammates, lead Lauren Gray and second Vicki Adams, sweep. REUTERS/Cathal McNaughton

Curling - Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics - Women's Bronze Medal Match - Britain v Japan - Gangneung Curling Center - Gangneung, South Korea - February 24, 2018 - Skip Eve Muirhead of Britain shouts to her team mates. REUTERS/John Sibley

Curling - Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics - Women's Bronze Medal Match - Britain v Japan - Gangneung Curling Center - Gangneung, South Korea - February 24, 2018 - Second Yumi Suzuki of Japan and second Vicki Adams of Britain watch the shot. REUTERS/John Sibley