Britain, Switzerland Reach Women's Curling Semis

Switzerland and Britain advanced to the semifinals in women's Olympic curling Monday, and Canada became the first female team to complete the round-robin matches without a loss.

The Swiss beat China 10-6 to qualify in third place behind Canada and Sweden, who reached the playoffs Sunday. Britain lost 8-7 to Denmark in an extra end, but a 9-6 win over Russia earlier Monday helped the world champions claim the other semifinal berth.

It was a bittersweet night for the British - the loss to Denmark means they will have to beat Canada to reach the gold-medal match. And Canada will be the favorite, having finished undefeated with a 9-4 win over South Korea.

"In an ideal world, you'd maybe pick and choose who you play," said Britain coach Rhona Howie, who was skip for Britain when it won gold in Salt Lake City in 2002. "But we've got to beat them (Canada and Sweden) to get that gold medal."

Sweden will take on Switzerland in the other semifinal. The top four teams in the world rankings made it through to the semis.

Japan could have set up a tiebreaker with the Swiss and the British by beating Sweden, but lost 8-4.

The only previous Olympic team to go through the qualifying phase with a perfect record is the Canadian men's rink skipped by Kevin Martin in the Vancouver Games in 2010.

That team won gold and the same now will be expected of the Canadian women. Canada's women haven't won women's Olympic gold since 1998.

"In my opinion, this is one of the toughest fields that has ever been assembled for women's curling," Canada skip Jennifer Jones said. "To go through undefeated, and to go into the Olympic record books, is pretty awesome."

The United States (1-8) finished last for the second straight Olympic Games after losing 11-2 to South Korea.

"This team is a better team than our performances this week," said U.S. curler Ann Swisshelm, who had tears in her eyes as she left the ice. "That's pretty heart-breaking."

Copyright AP - Associated Press
Contact Us