By Aadi Nair
CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy, Feb 19 (Reuters) – Magnus Ramsfjell’s Norway beat Canada 8-6 to seal their spot in the semi-finals of the men’s competition at the Winter Olympics, while Britain also made it through after Italy were beaten by Switzerland.
Norway’s win ensured they would finish in third place in the round-robin standings, setting up an immediate rematch with Brad Jacob’s Canada in the semi-finals later on Thursday.
Norway, Italy and Britain were all in the mix for the final two qualification spots, but the hosts suffered a 9-5 loss to Yannick Schwaller’s Switzerland in their final game.
Switzerland’s win saw them end their round-robin campaign with a perfect record of nine wins in nine, and they will meet Britain in the semi-finals.
On Wednesday, Bruce Mouat’s Britain bounced back from a run of three straight defeats to defeat the United States 9-2 and keep their semi-final hopes alive, but the world champions needed results to work out in their favour in the final session.
The semi-finals of the men’s competition take place later on Thursday, with the two winners meeting in a gold medal game on Saturday, while the two losers will face off for bronze on Friday.
In the other games, 2022 Olympic champions Sweden lost 10-4 to the Czech Republic to end their disappointing title defence in ninth place, with only China below them after they were beaten by Germany.
(Reporting by Aadi Nair; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
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