体坛英语新闻：Unbeaten Canada prevail over Russia into World Women's Curling Championships final

BEIJING, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Sochi Olympics champions Canada maintained their unbeaten run at the World Women's Curling Championships 2017 here on Friday, notching a 7-3 victory over Russia in the play-off to set a place in the gold medal game, scheduled to be held on Sunday.

But Russia still have chance to win the gold medal, if they can beat the winners of the other play-off between Sweden and Scotland, in the semifinal.

"We delivered some great shots today, especially in the second half of the match," said the skip of Canada, Rachel Homan.

Canada stole one point in each of the eighth and ninth end to take a 7-3 lead, which forced Russian players to give up the tenth end.

"They (the Russian players) played also very well, but we feel happy to win," Homan said.

"We don't have match tomorrow and will do some practice and try to have a good rest for the coming final," she added.

A total of 12 teams have participated 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.