China's Zang Jialiang (L) and Ba Dexin sweep during their men's curling round robin game against Canada in the Ice Cube Curling Centre at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games February 16, 2014. [Photo/Agencies]

SOCHI - Defending champion Canada edged China 9-8 to make it to the men's curling semifinals at the Sochi Winter Olympic Games here on Sunday.

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.