After surviving a pool scare 24 hours earlier, the Black Ferns Sevens have overwhelmed the hapless Russian Olympic Committee, inflicting a second defeat on their rivals in the space of a few hours to reach the Tokyo semi-finals.
The NZ women overcame the Russians 33-0 in their final pool outing on Friday afternoon and by some quirk of the draw, found themselves up against the same opponents in the quarter-finals in the evening.
But ROC showed they had learnt little from their previous defeat, conceding even more points in a 36-0 capitulation that put the Kiwis within a win of the gold-medal game.
But they won't have to overcome defending champions and archrivals Australia in their quest for gold, after the Aussies were bundled out of the tournament by Fiji 14-12 in the quarter-finals.
New Zealand will now face the Fijians in Saturday's semis, hoping to deny the Pacific Island nation a double sevens celebration at these Games.
They capitalised fully on consistent Russian mistakes in the first half, running in tries to Teresa Fitzpatrick, Tyla Nathan-Wong, Gayle Broughton and Michaela Blyde to lead 17-0 at the break.
The avalanche of points continued in the second half, with Portia Woodman showing too much pace for her markers to score twice and Ruby Tui grabbing a try for herself.
"We knew they would be disappointed with their early performance, and they would come out tough and with nothing to lose," Nathan-Wong told Sky Sport.
"We wanted to do the basics right and I think we did that."
Play at Tokyo Stadium was delayed by a lightning storm, but when the programme resumed, Fiji quickly jumped on top of an Australian outfit still reeling from their upset loss to USA in pool play.
Alowesi Nakoci and Ana Maria Naimasi scored tries to open an early 14-0, before the Aussies took advantage of an extra player to pull back a try before halftime.
The Fijians tackled their hearts out for most of the second half, but when Charlotte Caslick scored with seconds remaining, the champions had a glimpse of victory.
That disappered when Fiji earned a penalty near their own line and kicked to touch, as the final siren sounded, giving the small Pacific nation a chance of a rare men-women sevens double at Tokyo.
Compounding the Australians' downfall, the Americans were also bundled out of contention by Great Britain, which will meet France in the other semi.
