CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- Norway and Britain completed the men's curling semifinal lineup at the Milan-Cortina Olympic Winter Games following the final round-robin session on Thursday.
Norway defeated Canada 8-6, and both teams advanced to the semifinals. Britain secured the last semifinal berth with a 5-4 win-loss record.
Switzerland remained unbeaten in nine round-robin games as the top finisher after defeating Italy 9-5, with Canada and Norway sitting second and third, respectively.
Swiss skip Yannick Schwaller expressed satisfaction with his team's performance, but emphasized the importance of staying focused on execution rather than rankings.
"We tried to stay performance-oriented and we've done that well. Having the hammer throughout the playoffs is important, but we just want to keep playing with confidence," Schwaller said.
Canada and Norway will meet again in the semifinals later on Thursday, while Switzerland and Britain will contend for the other final spot.
Norway skip Magnus Ramsfjell said reaching the semifinals was the result of long-term preparation.
"It's something we've worked on for quite a while. The Olympics was our goal when we formed this team six years ago, so it feels incredible," he said, adding that maintaining composure would be key in the knockout stage.
The United States and Italy placed fifth and sixth, respectively. Germany defeated China 6-4 to finish seventh. The Czech Republic beat Sweden 10-4 to place eighth, while Sweden sat ninth. China ended the tournament in tenth place.
