VERNON – Switzerland's Mirjam Ott survived a Japanese comeback to win the bronze medal at the 2008 Ford World Women's Curling Championship.

Ott, from Davos, has won two Olympic medals, in 2002 and 2006, but floundered at two previous worlds, finishing eighth both at Bern 1997 and Paisley 2005.

It looked like clear sailing for the Swiss as they opened with three points, then scored a deuce and and stole another three points to lead 8-2 after five ends.

But the plucky Japanese, who had narrowly lost the semifinal to Canada two hours earlier, scored five unanswered points of their own from ends six through eight, to trail 8-7 and ignite the crowd.

Following a Swiss single in the ninth end, Japan fought to get a stone under cover in the 10th, but Meguro has to rush her shot due to time clock trouble. She skimmed a guard and left Ott the takeout for the 9-7 win.

"It's my first world medal, so it feels great," said Ott, who was supported by Carmen Schaefer, Valeria Spaelty and Janine Greiner.

"The start was really great and we turned to a strategy too defensive, I think. But I have a really strong team. Our main goal is Vancouver (Olympics)."

Japan equalled their best finish – a fourth-place ranking at Bern 1997 – but many fans will remember their run to the playoffs and the game they should have won: the semifinal against Canada, for a guaranteed podium finish.

"I think I am happy, but we should get better now," said Japan third Mari Motohashi.

"This game, and the semi, was very important for us."

The gold medal championship final between Canada and the other surprise from the Pacific region, China, begins Sunday at 10:30am Pacific time.

Seven broadcast partners are delivering live and tape-delayed action to world curling fans. Eurosport, NHK (Japan), TSN and CBC (Canada), WCSN and NBCOlympics.com (United States) and CurlTV are all on site in Vernon, with live results also available via curling.ca and results.worldcurling.org

WCF photos by Jorg Leuenberger