Japan suffered an 8-5 defeat when reigning gold medalist Sweden came from behind to win in their first game of the Beijing Olympics women's curling on Thursday.
Japan, the 2018 Pyeongchang Games bronze medalist, led 3-2 after the fifth end but allowed Sweden to steal three points in the sixth and gave away another three in the eighth as the 10-team round-robin got under way, with four teams advancing to the semifinals.
The biggest chance for Hokkaido-based Loco Solare, which represented Japan four years ago, arrived in the ninth end while trailing 8-4.
Skip Satsuki Fujisawa could have scored four with a takeout, but her misplaced final shot of the end could only score one against Sweden, ranked first in the world.
"The condition of the ice was different from official training," said Fujisawa. "We've put them under pressure in good fashion in the first half but the (sixth end) steal after the halftime hurt the most."
"We'll reflect on today's performance and have a good game next time."
Japan, ranked seventh in the world, will next face fifth-ranked Canada on Friday.
