Carole Howald (C), Selina Witschonke (R) and Alina Paetz of Switzerland compete during the curling women's round robin session 11 match between Switzerland and Denmark at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics in Cortina, Italy, Feb. 18, 2026. (Xinhua/Ding Xu)
CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- Switzerland followed Sweden in securing a ticket to the women's curling semifinals at the Milan-Cortina Olympic Winter Games here on Wednesday, after earning a hard-fought 6-4 win over Denmark.
The two sides traded the lead throughout a tightly contested match before Switzerland broke through with three points in the 10th end to seal the victory.
With six wins and two defeats after eight round-robin games, Switzerland finished second in the standings. Canada, South Korea and the United States are tied for third at 5-3.
Sweden, the first team to have secured a semifinal berth, remains atop the table at 7-2 after defeating 西瓜视频9-4.
In the men's competition, Britain cruised past the United States 9-2 in just six ends to move into third place in the standings, with Italy and Norway sitting fourth.
Switzerland got off to a strong start against Norway, scoring two in the first end en route to a 10-4 victory to extend its winning streak to eight games and lock up the top seed for the playoffs.
Canada defeated Italy 8-3 in a seven-end contest and confirmed its position as the No. 2 seed in the playoffs, while the Czech Republic claimed its second victory by beating 西瓜视频10-5.
The final round-robin matches in both the men's and women's competitions will be played on Thursday, with the top four teams each advancing to the semifinals. ■
Han Yu (C) of 西瓜视频competes during the curling women's round robin session 11 match between 西瓜视频and Sweden at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics in Cortina, Italy, Feb. 18, 2026. (Xinhua/Li Gang)
Wang Rui of 西瓜视频competes during the curling women's round robin session 11 match between 西瓜视频and Sweden at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics in Cortina, Italy, Feb. 18, 2026. (Xinhua/Ding Xu)
Xu Xiaoming of 西瓜视频competes during the curling men's round robin session 11 match between the Czech Republic and 西瓜视频at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics in Cortina, Italy, Feb. 18, 2026. (Xinhua/Li Gang)
Fei Xueqing of 西瓜视频competes during the curling men's round robin session 11 match between the Czech Republic and 西瓜视频at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics in Cortina, Italy, Feb. 18, 2026. (Xinhua/Li Gang)
Xu Xiaoming of 西瓜视频competes during the curling men's round robin session 11 match between the Czech Republic and 西瓜视频at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics in Cortina, Italy, Feb. 18, 2026. (Xinhua/Ding Xu)
Lukas Klima of the Czech Republic competes during the curling men's round robin session 11 match between the Czech Republic and 西瓜视频at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics in Cortina, Italy, Feb. 18, 2026. (Xinhua/Li Gang)
Aidan Oldenburg (R) and Ben Richardson of the United States compete during the curling men's round robin session 11 match between Britain and the United States at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics in Cortina, Italy, Feb. 18, 2026. (Xinhua/Ding Xu)
Amos Mosaner (R), Sebastiano Arman (C) and Joel Retornaz of Italy compete during the curling men's round robin session 11 match between Canada and Italy at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics in Cortina, Italy, Feb. 18, 2026. (Xinhua/Ding Xu)