Great Britain’s hopes of winning a first medal at the Beijing Winter Olympics were dashed in a 9-3 mixed doubles curling defeat to Sweden.

Bruce Mouat and Jennifer Dodds hoped to bounce back from Monday’s semi-final defeat to Norway by repeating their round-robin win over the Swedes.

But a brilliant shot by Almida De Val to score four for Sweden in the second end effectively ended the British pair’s chances of bronze.

Mouat and Dodds went into the Games as world champions while the Swedes were one of the favourites for gold.

The British pair lost their semi-final 6-5 on Monday against Norway, the team they beat to lift the world tile in Aberdeen last year.