SURSEE – The battle for the final playoff positions is in full roar as the round-robin portion of the 2008 World Wheelchair Curling Championships wraps up tonight in this Swiss city.

Wednesday morning action saw Sweden thump host Switzerland 8-1, Norway hold off a stubborn Scotland 9-6 and Italy defeat Japan 8-3.

Two additional games went down to the wire. The United States outscored Russia 6-2 but dodged a bullet when Russian skip Andrey Smirnov missed a shot for four and the victory. Meanwhile, Canada met Korea in a potential preview of the gold medal final, with Korean skip Hak Sung Kim grabbing three in the last end to tie the match. In the extra end,  the Koreans ended up with multiple guards and stole the win, 6-5.

Korea (7-1) and Canada (6-2) are through to the playoffs, while Norway and Italy are next in line at 5-3. Sweden and the United States are at 4-4.

Tomorrow's schedule is reserved for a tiebreaker draw, if necessary, with the Page Playoffs beginning Friday.

The Championship concludes with the final on February 9.

Real-time results - including shot-by-shot graphics and detailed statistics - are available at: www.wwcc.curlit.com

In addition, the International Paralympic Committee will broadcast packaged coverage of the semifinals and finals, at between 90 minutes and two hours in length, located at the web TV channel www.ParalympicSport.TV

An embedded version of the channel is also located on the IPC website at: www.paralympic.org