Scottish men near world curling semifinal berth and move into 1st-place tie

Scotland closed in on a bye to the semifinals at the world men's curling championship with a 7-4 win over Switzerland in Thursday's morning draw in Ogden, Utah.

Ross Whyte's team went ahead 5-4 with a point in the ninth end, then capped the match with a steal of two in the 10th.

Scotland moved into a tie with idle Sweden atop the standings at 9-2 with two round-robin draws to play.

Marco Hoesli's Swiss side, which is assured of a playoff berth, fell into a tie for fourth with the United States at 8-3. The U.S. defeated Italy 9-8 in the morning in a matchup of two more playoff-bound teams.

The Italians were sixth at 7-4.

Matt Dunstone's playoff-bound Canada team was idle in the morning. The Winnipeg rink sat in third at 8-2 heading into games later Thursday against Germany and Norway.

The top two teams at the end of the round-robin earn a direct berth in the semifinals, while the other four teams that make the playoffs play in a qualification round.

In other results from Thursday's early round, Japan beat Poland 10-2, and China downed Germany 9-5.