Canadian women through to semis

PINEROLO, ITALY – Well.

A scary win for Canada in women's play, a 9-8 victory over an inspired Dorte Holm of Denmark.

Glenys Bakker shooting 58% at third is not going to cut the mustard, but more troubling is a persistent – and unsettling – listlessness which still seems to plagues the entire Calgary foursome.

One sheet over, Switzerland ended the Japanese dream with an emphatic 11-5 win, while Great Britain thumped the USA 10-4. In addition, the resurgent Russians took Norway's Dordi Nordby out by a 10-8 final count.

As such... there will be no tiebreakers. Canada (3) meets Switzerland (2) in one semi, while Sweden (1) battles Norway (4) in the other.

And a day off for The Curling News here in Italy... woo-hoo! We'll be back on Wednesday... for now, the calendars are back on sale, and a couple of random ink spills, until we meet again...

• a story on a meaningful Feb. 24 for the U.S. men’s third;

• and this guy is convinced that curling is a sport and figure skating... is not.