Canada beat Japan by 6-4 while hosts Sweden defeated Italy by 4-3 in Saturday morning’s qualification games at the LGT World Women’s Curling Championship.
Sweden now face defending champions and table-toppers Switzerland in one semi-final on Saturday afternoon while Canada will play second-ranked Norway in the other semi-final, at the same time.
There was never more than one point between the teams in the game between Canada and Japan, which eventually went to an extra end with the score tied at 4-4 after ten.
The Canadians held last-stone advantage in that extra end and when Japan’s skip Fujisawa Satsuki failed to move the Canadian counter with her own last, Kerri Einarson’s Canadians score two without having to play their last stone, to win by 6-4.
The game between Sweden and Italy, played out in front of an enthusiastic home crowd, was also a tight affair featuring four blank ends.
Sweden took a 2-0 lead into the fifth-end break, but Italy scored two in the sixth to level the game at 2-2.
The game was tied again after nine ends, at 3-3. In the tenth, Sweden skip Anna Hasselborg was accurate enough to score the one point needed for a 4-3 win and a chance to play for medals.
Engage with the World Curling Federation during the LGT World Women’s Curling Championship 2023 on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Weibo and be searching the hashtags #WWCC2023 #curling
