The next-to-last session of the round-robin phase of the mixed doubles curling tournament took place at the 2022 Winter Olympics.
Action on the four sheets of ice saw wins for Australia, Italy, Switzerland and Norway. Hosts China and the Czech Republic sat the session out.
Australia 10, Canada 8 (9 ends)
The team of Tahli Gill and Dean Hewitt pulled off one of the biggest upsets in international curling history as they put a major dent in Canada's playoff hopes on Sheet A.
Incredibly, Australia (2-7) was 7-0 up at the halfway point before Rachel Homan and John Morris fought back as Homan's draw in the fifth end cut it to a 7-4 game.
Gill and Hewitt picked up one in the sixth before another successful draw by Homan made it 8-7 heading into the final end. Gill's attempted hit to win the game in the eighth rolled too far, giving Canada a steal of one.
In the extra end, Homan's final rock was wide and heavy, giving Australia two points and the victory without having to play their last stone.
Italy 12, Sweden 8
In a possible playoff preview on Sheet B, the increidble team of Stefania Constantini and Amos Mosaner scored four in the eighth end to remain unbeaten at 8-0.
Sweden opened with two points in the first end, but Italy scored singles in three straight ends, including steals in the second and third. Almida De Val and Oskar Eriksson scored three in the fifth to go back in front.
Constantini then showed why she is the best player at the Olympics, nailing a heavy hit to give Italy five and an 8-5 lead after six ends. Sweden tied it in the seventh, but Constantini played another magnificent hit in the eighth to score four and the win.
"We really want to play our best and that is what we are doing", Constantini said. "I think every team is strong, so we are just doing our best and what happens, happens."
Switzerland 6, United States 5
On Sheet C, already-eliminated Switzerland knocked Team USA out of contention for a playoff berth.
The team of Jenny Perret and Martin Rios scored three in the first end and it took Vicky Persinger and Chris Plys until the seventh end to level the score at 5-5.
Perret then had a simple shot for the win, which she was able to execute as both teams are now 3-5.
Norway 6, Great Britain 2
On Sheet D, both teams clinched a playoff spot and will face each other in the semifinals.
The team of Kristin Skaslien and Magnus Nedregotten scored one in the first and stole another in the second. A successful angle raise by Jennifer Dodds in the third cut the lead in half.
A draw into the house by Skaslien made it 3-1 and they stole a point in the fifth. Dodds failed on a draw while the Brits were on the power play.
Norway thought they had scored three in the seventh, but a measurement determined it was only two and Great Britain ran out of stones in the eighth.
"We knew this would be a tough game", Skaslien said. "They're great players, so we knew we had to play our best today to win and we obviously had a great game.
"We played well, we did a lot of great shots, we felt we had control basically the whole match, except for one end. We felt confident and we were precise on our shots, so it felt good."