Canada beats China to reach Olympic men's curling semis

Defending champion Canada edged China 9-8 to make it to the men's curling semifinals at the Sochi Winter Olympic Games in Sochi on Sunday.  [Special coverage]

The victory gave Canada a 7-2 win/loss record in the round-robin, while China has to beat Britain on Monday to secure its place in the last four.

China's skip Liu Rui started the game in ominous form, producing an impressive in-off double for two in the third end, then bettering that play in the fifth end with a full-weight takeout on a frozen Canada shot that gave China three and a 5-3 lead.

Canada went on a five-point run, including consecutive stolen ends, after the mid-game break to take control of the game and Brad Jacobs was able to take victory with another nerveless draw to the button with his final stone.

"We made a lot of mistakes after mid-game," said Liu. "The opponent is very strong. We felt some pressure after the eighth end, which made me make more mistakes."

Canada beat the United States 8-6 earlier Sunday.

After beating Britain 7-6 in the morning session, Norway maintained its chance of returning to the Olympic Winter Games medal podium with a 5-3 victory against Switzerland.

Denmark claimed its third round-robin win with a 6-3 victory over Germany, and reigning world champion Sweden beat the United States 6-4 after defeating Russia 8-4.

In the women's round-robin, Denmark beat South Korea 7-4; Japan outclassed Switzerland 9-7; Sweden edged Russia 5-4 and the United States lost to Canada 6-7.