China beat Japan 9-6 in the Sapporo Winter Asian Games men's curling here on Monday, marking the third consecutive win in the round robin.

China, silver medalist in the Pacific-Asia Championships in 2016, was in good status and led 5-3 at the first half. Japan, who had won the Asiad silver medal twice, equalized the game at end of the eighth set, bringing back pressure to China.

However, China's skipper Liu Rui scored two points in the vital ninth set, enlarging the gap to 9-6 at the end.

"The only thing I was to forget about was the mistake we made after the sixth set," said Liu after the match. "Curling is a game played by a team of four. My teammates and I did our best."

"We do gain our confidence after the win," Liu confirmed.

In the other two games today, defending champion South Korea beat Chinese Taipei 7-3 and Kazakhstan crushed Qatar 12-4. China will meet South Korea on Tuesday.

source: Xinhua