VIERUMAKI – Hosts Finland will battle powerhouse Switzerland in the championship final of the first World Mixed Doubles Championship.

Switzerland crushed a strong team from Norway 11-2 in one semifinal to advance to the final. It marked the eighth consecutive win for the Swiss, who appear to have mastered the new curling discipline.

Finland continued their run to the final with a 6-4 victory over Sweden. The Finns upset Canada in the final qualifying match earlier on Friday.

"We were absolutely whacked," said Norway's Linn Githmark, the 2004 world junior champion skip who teamed with her father, Tormod Andreassen, for the World Mixed Doubles.

"We can't blame the stones, I didn't make many shots. It was frustrating. But they played very well."

Switzerland grabbed a three-count in the second end and never looked back. Githmark said that Swiss male Toni Mueller was the only player to pick up a change in the ice speed between the pre-game practice session and the start of the match.

"I think the Swiss deserve to win the gold," said Githmark. "But out of 24 world teams we finished in the top four. We can't be unhappy."

Mueller is a two-time Swiss junior champion and also skipped his country into fourth place at the recent Le Gruyère European Championships. Teammate Irene Schori competed in the 2002 World Juniors.

"I think this (format) is not easy," said Schori. "We can take a three in the first end and then the other team can take three right back. But so far we seem to get lots of points."

A noisy crowd cheered lustily as Finland's Jussi Uusipaavalniemi and Anne Malmi manouevered their way to an appearance in Saturday's gold medal final. Sweden's Goran Carlsson and Marie Persson proved a challenge but the Finns would not be denied.

"We want all of Finland to take a bus to Vierumaki tomorrow," enthused Uusipaavalniemi. "It is time to wave the flag."

Norway and Sweden meet in the bronze medal match on Saturday. 

The Finnish Curling Association is posting live results online of both Championships. The World Mixed Doubles results are available at:
curling.fi/en/competitions/leagues/2688

... and the World Seniors can be viewed at:

curling.fi/en/competitions/leagues/2687

In addition, results are mirrored on the World Curling Federation  website at: results.worldcurling.org

The host websites for the Championships are: wmdcc2008.com (World  Mixed Doubles) and: wscc2008.com (World Seniors).