The dream run continues as Japan’s women’s curling team reaches the gold medal final

After barely qualifying for the women’s curling playoffs, Japan now find themselves one win from a gold medal after shocking the world champs Switzerland in the semifinals.

Japan took down Switzerland 8-6 Friday and will face Great Britain for the gold medal. Great Britain beat Sweden 12-11 in the other semifinal.

Win or lose, Japan is already guaranteed their best-ever Olympic finish in curling, bettering their bronze medal performance in PyeongChang four years ago.

“The way this team handles adversity and bounces back from difficult situations is definitely the biggest strength they have,” said Japan coach J.D. Lind. “They’re an amazing group that work really well together and support each other.

The final should prove to be a great challenge for Japan as they were routed by Great Britain 10-4 in round robin play. Japan only advanced to the playoffs via the draw-shot challenge tiebreaker after they lost to Switzerland on Thursday. The Swiss won eight of nine matches in round robin play. Both Japan and Great Britain had records of 5-4.

The gold medal match will be a rematch of the bronze medal game from PyeongChang 2018.