Sweden became the first team to qualify for the playoff stage at the World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship ©WCF/Celine Stucki

Sweden became the first team to qualify for the playoff stage at the World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship in Aberdeen in Scotland as they extended their unbeaten run to seven matches.

As well as having a clear lead at the top of Group B, Sweden also qualified for the mixed doubles curling event at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics after booking their place in the playoff stage.

The Swedes beat Japan 11-5 in the first session of the day and followed it up with an 11-7 triumph against China.

Hot on Sweden’s heels in the group are Norway with a record of six wins and one defeat, following an emphatic 11-1 victory against England and a 9-5 triumph against Switzerland later in the day.

Behind them three nations have records of four wins and three defeats - New Zealand, Switzerland and the United States.

New Zealand were edged out by the US 6-5 but bounced back to defeat Japan 7-2, Switzerland beat Finland 8-5 before losing to Norway while the US remain in a tie for third despite losing to New Zealand and later England 11-9.

In Group A, hosts Scotland lead with one day of round-robin play remaining, after beating Canada 8-5 in the evening session.

That victory took Scotland to a record of six wins and one defeat, following a 7-5 win against Germany earlier in the day.

Canada and Italy are chasing Scotland with records of five wins and two losses, with the Canadians beating Italy 6-4 before losing their unbeaten record to Scotland.

Following the Canadian defeat, Italy bounced back in the final session to edge the Czech Republic 5-4 to put themselves in a tie for second place in the standings.

Below these two teams, three more countries have more wins than losses with the Czech Republic, Germany and the Russian Curling Federation all sitting with 4-3 records.

The Czech Republic beat Spain 7-3 today before their loss to Italy, Germany bounced back from their defeat to Scotland to beat Korea 9-3 while the Russian Curling Federation beat Hungary 6-2 before edging past basement side Spain 8-7.

The countries that finish in the top seven at the World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship will qualify for this discipline at Beijing 2022.

If China finish inside the top seven the country that places eighth in this event will qualify, however if China finish outside the top seven they will still qualify automatically through the host country quota place.