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BEIJING, March 23 (Xinhua) -- Canada kept a perfect score at the World Women's Curling Championships 2017, after defeating Italy 8-5 and Denmark 8-4 here on Thursday to lead the 12-team field into medal play-offs after the round-robin phase.
The other three qualified teams are 2nd-ranked Russia, third-ranked Sweden and Scotland.
"I think we are just doing the right things. As for the record, we didn't think too much about it, because the most important is the gold medal," said Rachel Homan, the skip of Sochi winter Olympics champions Canada, who were unbeaten at this event.
"We didn't set a high goal before we came here, we just want to play our game and try to enter the play-offs. Now we need to have a good rest and prepare for the next match," she added.
Canada will play Russia on Friday, and the winners go into the gold medal game which scheduled to be played on Sunday while the losing side play the semifinal. Russia beat hosts China 6-4 tonight to surpass Sweden.
Sweden are set to play Scotland with the winners earn a berth in the semifinal while the defeated team move the bronze medal match.
The winners of the semifinal will get the other ticket to the gold medal game, and the defeated one should play the bronze medal game.
2009 world champions China produced a poor performance in the event on home soil, finishing 11th after just two wins.
"We are a newly-established team and still need time to improve. The time is going to be tight for us to prepare for the Olympic Qualification Event. I have confidence and we will appear at the Winter Olympics next year in Pyeongchang, South Korea next year," said Zhou Yan, the first player of China.
Defending champions Switzerland started the tournament with three consecutive wins, but lost six of the remaining eight games to rank eighth.
A total of 12 teams are competing in the World Women's Curling Championships, which serves as a qualifier for next year's PyeongChang Winter Olympics.
Seven teams that have the most qualification points from the 2016 and 2017 World Championships will directly qualify for the Olympics. Teams which played in any of the four previous World Championships are eligible to vie for the two other Olympic slots at the Olympic Qualification Event to be held in Pilsen, the Czech Republic. Enditem
