Curlers into last four

Tanya Frei and Luzia Ebnöther celebrate the win over Canada Keystone

Switzerland's two curling teams remain well on course for Olympic medal glory, with both the men and the women having now booked places in the tournament's semi-finals.

Luzia Ebnöther’s side made sure of their semi-final berth in style, overcoming the previously unbeaten Canadians 7-6.

In the last round the Swiss team also beat Germany 10-4, which puts them in a better position for the semi-finals as Ebnöther’s team will now face the United States, and not, as previously anticipated, the world champions Canada.

Little justice

The scoreline against Canada does little justice to the emphatic nature of the Swiss win. Going into the last end with a 7-5 lead and last stone advantage, Ebnöther was about to stretch that lead further when the Canadians conceded defeat, leaving the last Swiss stone unplayed.

The victory offered an early taste of revenge to the Swiss women, who lost out to the Canadians in the final of last year’s world championships.

It should be noted, however, that the Canadian quartet had already qualified for the Salt Lake City semi-finals before Monday’s match, and may not have been pushing themselves quite as hard as the Swiss.

Men through too

The Swiss men’s team certainly faced fully motivated opponents in their final qualifying match, with Germany also bidding for a place in the semi-finals.

But despite the high stakes, Andreas Schwaller’s team came through comfortably, beating the German team 10-4.

The result ended Germany’s hopes of reaching the last four.

In Wednesday’s semi-final match the Swiss men will now face Norway, whom they beat 5-4 in their very first qualifying game. The other semi-final will pit hot favourites Canada, who topped the qualifying group with eight wins from nine matches, against world and European champions Sweden.

swissinfo with agencies