16.02 Sochi 2014: Sweden Women's Curling Team Advances, Russia Out

SOCHI, February 15 (R-Sport) — Defending Olympic champion Sweden booked a playoff spot in the women's curling tournament Sunday, eliminating host Russia with a 5-4 edge-of-your-seat win.

The nail-biter at the Ice Cube Curling Center was decided by the very last stone, which saw Sweden's vice-skip Maria Prytz score the two points her team needed for victory after going into the final end with a 4-3 deficit.

Sweden's sixth win in the round robin stage secures a place in the playoffs, matching the men's achievement earlier in the day, and dashes Russia's hopes of taking a first curling medal with a fifth defeat.

Meanwhile, 2010 runner-up Canada, skipped by Jennifer Jones, is now one step away from clinching a perfect record at the Olympic round robin stage for the first time in history.

On Sunday, Canada beat outsider United States 7-6 and in the last round will face South Korea, whose 7-4 defeat to Denmark killed any hope of moving past the preliminaries.

Japan edged out Switzerland in the extra end 9-7 to stay in playoff contention.

On Monday, Britain, China, Japan and Switzerland will fight for the last two slots in the semifinals.

The Olympic curling tournament features a round robin from which the top four teams in the final standings progress to the playoffs.

The gold medal game is February 20.