Olympics-Curling-Switzerland, Canada advance to semi-finals at Games

By Aadi Nair

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy, Feb 17 (Reuters) – Yannick Schwaller’s Switzerland defeated champions Sweden 9-4 before beating Germany 8-4 on Tuesday to remain unbeaten in the men’s curling competition and book their spot in the semi-finals, where they will be joined by Canada.

The Swiss have won seven out of seven and top the standings. Brad Jacobs’ Canada are second with six wins and one defeat.

“Everyone is buying into our project right now,” Schwaller said. “The whole group, including coaches and alternates, is really paying attention. It helps in reading the ice and we talk a lot. We’re just very focused at the same time and having fun.”

Canada clinched their top-four spot with a win over world champions Britain, who they have a poor past record against.

Bruce Mouat’s rink beat Canada twice at last year’s worlds, once in the round-robin stage and again in the semis.

“We knew getting to six wins and staying at one loss was going to be big. Historically, when you look at the Olympics and men’s play, the six win number is a great number,” Jacobs said.

Niklas Edin-led Sweden’s title defence ended earlier on Tuesday after they suffered their sixth defeat of the competition and were ruled out of playoff contention, but they returned to winning ways against Norway.

The 7-4 victory was overshadowed by the Norwegians’ flashy red, white and blue harlequin-pattern pants – a tribute to the late Thomas Ulsrud as his team wore them at Vancouver 2010.

The United States lost twice on Tuesday, slumping to an 8-5 defeat against Italy in a game where the hosts were roared on by their fans at a packed Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium.

Earlier, Xiaoming Xu’s China won by the same score over the U.S., while Czech Republic beat 2024 European champions Germany 9-7. It was a first-ever win for the Czech men’s team at the Olympics, though the Czechs have won in mixed doubles before.

Teams play nine matches in the round-robin stage, which continues on Wednesday. The top four advance to the semis this week.

(Reporting by Aadi Nair; Editing by Ken Ferris)