Winter Olympics: Team GB mixed doubles curlers into semis despite loss to Norway

Great Britain curling mixed doubles pair are through to the semi-finals at the Winter Olympics despite a 6-2 defeat by Norway.

Jen Dodds and Bruce Mouat missed the chance to seal their own place, but defeats for Sweden and Canada put them through to the next stage anyway.

They qualified because of their head-to-head record against other nations.

It means their final group match against the USA on Monday will only determine their final placing.

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Italy are already through as group winners, but Britain, Canada and Norway all have five wins and three losses with a match left to play, while Sweden's campaign has concluded with five wins and four defeats.

With Scottish pair Mouat and Dodds having already beaten the Canadians and the Swedes, as well as sitting second in the tiebreaker known as the draw shot Challenge rankings, even defeat by the USA (01:05 GMT) would not deny them a shot at a medal.

"We've just had a hug," Mouat said. "We are obviously very excited. We've still got a job to do and we want to finish the round robin with a win; that'll set us up well for the semi-finals."

Dodds added: "We know it's going to be tough whoever we play in the semis, we just want to go out tomorrow and string out eight ends like we know we can."

Italy, Great Britain and Norway are already through to the semi-finals

Progress comes as a relief for Britain, having struggled to find their best form against the team they defeated in the final of the World Championships last year.

Magnus Nedregotten and Kristin Skaslien were consistent throughout, and delivered the decisive blow in the penultimate end with a score of two to take an unassailable 6-2 advantage. They are also through to the last four.

In their first match on Sunday, Dodds and Mouat beat China 6-5 in a nail-biting contest.

They trailed 4-1 but drew level with a superb three before securing the winning point in the final end.

The result of their final match against the USA will decide whether they face unbeaten Italy or not in the last four.

The Italians will play the fourth-placed side, while the nations ranked second and third will meet one another.