Gold medal still possible for Canada

The Canadians and Russians had been tipped to meet in the final but the host nation's loss to the USA last Sunday meant they were in the same half of the draw as their rivals.

Under pressure to live up to high expectations from a hockey-mad country, the Canadians had got back to winning ways with an 8-2 play-off win over Germany on Tuesday to set up a last-eight meeting with Russia at Canada Hockey Place.

Any fears of an early exit were quickly dispelled as Canada jumped out to a 4-1 lead after the first 20-minute period and then rammed home their advantage with two quick goals early in the second period before sealing victory over a lacklustre Russian side.

The USA also reached the last four with an earlier 2-0 win over Switzerland and they await Finland, who defeated the Czech Republic 2-0.

Slovakia then caused an upset by beating Sweden 4-3 to book a semi-final meeting with hosts and gold medal favourites Canada.

Sweden, skipped by Anette Norberg, enjoyed a better time in the women's curling when they booked their place in the final with a 9-4 win over China.

Host nation Canada, skipped by Cheryl Bernard, delighted the Vancouver Olympic Centre crowd by joining the Swedes in today's showdown by edging out Switzerland 6-5 in their semi-final.