Curling-Swedes beat Swiss, Australia still winless in mixed doubles

BEIJING : Sweden boosted their chances of advancing to the curling mixed doubles semi-finals with a 6-1 victory over Switzerland at the Beijing Winter Games on Saturday, while Norway remained in the hunt after an entertaining win over Australia.

Swedish pair Oskar Eriksson and Almida de Val eased past Switzerland's Martin Rios and Jenny Perret to climb to second in the standings in the round-robin phase.

Teams play nine matches with the top four progressing to Monday's semis.

"Today was a big step forward for us and this puts us in a better position to fight for the playoff spots," Eriksson said after Switzerland conceded the game in the seventh end. "This was probably our best game."

Australia are still searching for their first victory and remain rooted to the bottom of the table following their 10-4 loss to Norway, who are eighth.

The Australian duo threatened an unlikely comeback after scoring three in the fifth end to reduce the deficit to 7-4, but were blown away in the sixth.

Sweden take on Olympic champions Canada in Saturday's afternoon session while Australia face group leaders Italy.

Hosts China will play the United States and world champions Britain face the Czech Republic.

(Reporting by Hritika Sharma; Editing by Peter Rutherford)