Sweden 8, ROC 5
Sweden clinched its spot in the women’s curling semifinals with an 8-5 win over the team from the Russian Olympic Committee Wednesday in Session 11 of play.
The game was tightly contested throughout. Sweden, the defending women’s curling Olympic gold medalists, scored one in the fifth to go into the break trailing by one, and stole a point in the sixth to tie the game at 4-4.
In the eighth, Anna Hasselborg got a double takeout on Sweden’s second-to-last throw, and took out ROC’s final stone to put two on the board and help her team retake the lead, 6-5.
ROC blanked the ninth to keep last stone advantage in the tenth. It didn’t matter, because Sweden’s guards protected the house too well in the final end and allowed Hasselborg to steal two and finish with the 3-point win.
Sweden (6-2) is currently second in the women's curling standings. The team will finish round-robin play on Thursday against Denmark at 1:05 a.m. ET.
The ROC (1-7), having been eliminated from semifinal contention, will play its final game of the Olympics at the same time Thursday against Great Britain.
China 11, Canada 9
A big end by Canada wasn’t enough to put China away Wednesday. It took one extra end, but a steal of two in the 11th gave the Chinese team an 11-9 win over Canada to hurt the Canadians semifinal hopes.
With the loss, Canada falls to 4-4 overall. A win would have automatically put Jennifer Jones’s team into the semifinals.
China led Wednesday’s game 5-3 at the half.
In the sixth, Canada lied four with the last stones remaining. China’s Wang Rui tried to get her team’s final rock behind two Canadian guards for a point, but was unsuccessful. Jones answered by putting Canada’s hammer throw into the 8-foot to give the team five points and an 8-5 lead.
China chipped away at the lead from there. Wang’s team got two back in the seventh to cut Canada’s lead to one, and stole another in the eighth after Jones’s hammer throw rolled inches too far and allowed China to tie the score at 8-8 with two ends to play.
Canada got one back in the ninth to again take the lead. It was the team’s only point following the 5-point end.
China scored one in the tenth to tie the score and force an extra. With the hammer throw in the 11th, Jones tried for a runback takeout, but missed, sending her final stone out of the house and allowing China a steal of two for the win.
Canada will finish round-robin play on Thursday at 1 a.m. ET, when they take on Denmark. The Canadians are currently tied for fourth with Great Britain and South Korea, and will need to win to keep their hopes of advancing to the medal round alive.
China finishes round-robin play with a 4-5 record.
SEE MORE: China win hurts Canada's semifinal hopes in women's curling
South Korea 8, Denmark 7
South Korea, the reigning Olympic silver medalists, got the win it needed Wednesday. In an 8-7 defeat of Denmark, the Korean team improved to 4-4 to keep the hopes of moving on to the medal round alive.
Denmark seemed to be in control of the game late. Trailing 3-2, Denmark took the lead in the fifth after Madeleine DuPont landed the hammer stone behind two Korean guards to put three on the board and give her team a 2-point lead at the half.
After South Korea scored two in the sixth, DuPont landed her hammer throw directly on the button in the seventh in front of a Korean stone to give Denmark one point and the lead again, 6-5.
Tied again after eight, South Korea got a triple takeout on the second to last stone in the ninth, but left a straight line for a takeout for DuPont with the hammer throw. DuPont was successful for one point and the lead again, 7-6, with one end to play.
Despite the deficit, the Korean team stayed calm throughout the tenth. EunJung Kim got the takeout she needed on the final throw to land two in the house for South Korea and give her team the win.
South Korea will finish round-robin play on Thursday against Sweden. Game time is set for 1:05 a.m. ET. The Koreans are currently tied for fourth with Great Britain and Canada, and will need to win to keep the hopes of getting into the medal round alive.
Denmark (2-6), eliminated from semifinal contention, will finish its Olympics on Thursday at the same time against Canada.
