Sochi 2014 Olympic gold medallists Canada got off to a superb start after thrashing the United States 10-2, before they were involved in a much closer affair with Denmark in the evening session.

After a topsy-turvy nine ends, the score was locked at 7-7 until Canadian skip Jennifer Jones demonstrated her composure under pressure by drawing her last stone onto the button to seal a dramatic 8-7 win.

"It's always nice to win those games," Jones said.

"I missed a bad shot in the sixth end and I wanted to make that one up to my girls, so it was nice to have the draw for the win.

"When I missed that shot for three, it kind of changed the game a little bit but we hung in there and came out with the win, which is what you need to do."

Switzerland have, however. kept pace with the Canadians so far as they were also involved in a tight contest, eventually edging past a resilient Finland in their opening match of the day 8-7.

The Swiss then went win 8-4 against Russia, who had started the competition at a blistering pace, ensuring they kept in contention for top spot with the Canadians.

The United States recovered from being thrashed by Canada by beating Japan to claim their first win of the tournament so far ©World Curling Federation

The Russians did enjoy some success by beating Japan in the evening session as they recovered from a 3-1 deficit to win 7-3 to cement their third-place position.

Elsewhere, Sweden matched the feat of Canada and Switzerland by securing two victories, the first a commanding 9-3 triumph over China before they ousted rivals Norway 8-5.

Following a crushing loss in the morning, the American outfit got the better of the Japanese with a 6-4 victory to claim their first success of the tournament so far.

China, Denmark and Scotland all finished the day with one win and one loss, while Norway languish at the bottom having suffered defeat in all seven of their matches at the competition.

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