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QUEBEC CITY, Canada, May 14, 2008 (AFP) - Maxim Afinogenov scored twice and Evgeny Nabokov made 22 saves as Russia rolled over Switzerland 6-0 in the quarter-finals of the World Ice Hockey Championships on Wednesday.
With the victory Russia kept their unbeaten record intact and advanced to the semi-finals to face Finland on Friday.
Alex Ovechkin, Alexander Semin and Danis Zaripov also scored for the Russians, who have one of the longest gold medal droughts of the traditional hockey giants going back to 1993.
Russia has now reached four semi-finals since the current playoff format was implemented in 2000.
In their previous three they´ve come away with a medal each time, just not the shade they hoped for.
Russia´s Ilya Kovalchuk was given a five-minute major and a game misconduct with 7:47 remaining in the third.
Switzerland´s Martin Gerber was the busier of the two netminders, making 24 saves in front of a crowd of 12,096 at the Colisee arena.
Switzerland has now made it to five consecutive quarter-finals and is being called an emerging hockey nation.
Next year, the Swiss will host the World Championships, playing their games in the 17,000-capacity PostFinance Arena in Berne.
The Swiss finished sixth at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.
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