Russia defeat United States in curling

Russia have defeated the United States 9-7 in the Olympic women's curling qualifying rounds in Sochi.

The Americans were well in the lead after three ends at the Sochi Ice Cube Curling Center, surging into a 4-1 lead.

However, the home side, led by Anna Sidorova, fought back and established a narrow advantage in the subsequent rounds, courtesy of eight points in the following six ends.

The USA won the final end, but didn't do enough to dislodge the Russians from their winning position.

In other results, South Korea beat Japan 12-7, Switzerland narrowly defeated Denmark 7-6 and Sweden went down 9-3 to Canada.