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PARDUBICE, Czech Republic — Associated Press Published on Wednesday, Jan. 02, 2008 7:06PM EST Last updated on Monday, Mar. 30, 2009 2:41PM EDT
Canada rallied to beat Finland 4-2 to reach the semifinals of the world junior hockey championship Wednesday Russia defeated the Czech Republic 4-1 in the other quarterfinal, and will now face Sweden in the semifinal.
The U.S. and Sweden qualified for the semifinals by winning their preliminary groups.
Russia jumped to a 3-0 lead behind second-period goals by Yakov Seleznev, Viktor Tikhonov and Nikita Filatov. After the Czechs cut the lead to 3-1 with 2:40 remaining in the period, Anton Korolev restored the three-goal lead midway through the third.
Finland and the Czech Republic will meet Thursday for fifth place.
In the relegation round, Slovakia beat Switzerland 5-2 while Kazakhstan topped Denmark 6-3. The winners secured spots for next year's U20 championship in Ottawa, Canada, while Denmark and Switzerland will be relegated and replaced by Germany and Latvia.
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