The Russian team, bronze medallists at the 2015 event in Sapporo in Japan, raced into a 3-0 lead against the Swiss in the evening session and survived a brief fightback from their opponents before claiming a 6-3 success.

The fifth day of competition had started poorly for Russia, led by skip Anna Sidorova, as they suffered a 7-1 thrashing at the hands of in-form Scotland, who had come into the match off the back of six consecutive victories.

On a topsy-turvy day of action, Scotland were unable to replicate that display as they fell to a narrow 7-6 loss at the hands of Switzerland in their second game of the day.

“All good, especially after a tough morning for us,” Sidorova said.

“We're ready to play and hopefully we will win tomorrow.

“I don't like this word - hopefully - we will go and fight for the games.

“When we play our best we know that we can beat everybody.”

Canada’s inconsistent form on home ice continued as they were stunned 8-7 by South Korea in their opener before recovering to enjoy a comfortable 7-1 triumph over Finland in the evening session.

The shock win for the Asian nation came after they had proved too strong for the Finnish team with a 9-6 success.

“I can't explain how happy I feel right now, I'm really happy,” South Korean skip Ji Sun Kim said.

“I thought Canada were a bit nervous [when they came to play that last shot].”

Japan were the other big winners on day five as they earned two victories to move into a four-way battle for top spot on the leaderboard.

The Japanese hammered Germany 8-1 and went on to beat the United States 7-4 in the evening to join Canada, Switzerland and Scotland on a seven win and two loss record.

The top four following the conclusion of the round-robin phase will reach the play-off stage.

The 2016 World Women’s Curling Championships continue tomorrow.