Canada vs. Switzerland Set for Curling Mixed Doubles Gold-Medal Match

Canada will take on Switzerland in the final of the mixed doubles curling event after the latter finished strong to defeat the Olympic Athletes from Russia 7-5 in Monday's second semi-final. 

The Swiss team of Martin Rios and Jenny Perret defeated Russian counterparts Anastasia Bryzgalova and Aleksandr Krushelnitckii at the Gangneung Gymnasium with a late dash despite trailing 5-4 after six ends.

A well-timed push saw the Swiss pair win three points across the last two sets to survive a scare in the semi and set up a final meeting with Canada, who beat Norway 8-4 to book their place in the decider.

This is the first time mixed doubles have featured at a Winter Olympics, meaning one of Canada or Switzerland will have a grand opportunity to record a piece of Games history in Tuesday's showdown.

The Swiss won't mind that they had to leave it late to secure their spot in the final, although Canada may not be as forgiving as Monday's Russian opponents.

Here's an updated look at the overall medal table at the 2018 Winter Olympics:

Rios and Perret failed to score in the fifth and sixth ends, leaving the Russian athletes to take a 5-4 lead entering the final legs of the game, but their back-to-back scores at the death sealed a dramatic win.

The athletes from Russia had the opportunity to pull things back in their favour with the final stone of the game, and CBC showed just how close they came to knocking their Swiss foes out of the running:

It was an up and down affair throughout, with the Russian athletes responding with two scores in the second end after Switzerland won the opener by the same margin, and it was the latter who led 4-2 at the halfway stage.

Curling writer Josh Potts commented on how this meeting between the two teams differed to their clash in the round-robin stage, although a late comeback from the Swiss ran as a common theme between the two:

Canada weren't without their own share of wobbles in the semi-final win over Norway, where an 8-4 scoreline was perhaps flattering for a team that missed so many scoring opportunities.

The Canadian duo of Kaitlyn Lawes and John Morris never trailed in their penultimate mixed doubles outing and put the finishing touches on their win with a three-score display in the final end.

Meanwhile, Norway and the Olympics Athletes from Russia will contest the bronze-medal match on Tuesday in the hopes they can still merit a podium-place finish.