Britain’s men’s curling team will contest the Olympic semifinals on Thursday evening after a defeat for Italy saw them scrape through to the next stage.
Bruce Mouat’s side needed either Switzerland or Canada — both of whom had already qualified for the medal matches — to beat Italy or Norway respectively.
Switzerland made a bright start with two points in the first end and led at the halfway mark 4-1.
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While the Italy side staged a renaissance to bring it back to 7-5 at the conclusion of eighth end, Switzerland took two points in the ninth, prompting the Italians to offer a handshake at 5-9 down.
Britain will face Switzerland in their semifinal after Canada lost 8-6 to Norway, with those two teams now meeting again in the other match.