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BEIJING, China — Brad Gushue knew he didn’t need to achieve anything extraordinary with his last stone.

He kept it simple and hit the mark, helping Canada build momentum in the men’s curling tournament at the Beijing Olympics.

Gushue scored on his last rock in the 10th end as Canada posted a third straight victory by beating China 10-8 on Tuesday.

“I was just trying to keep my focus on what I had to do,” Gushue said. Throw the stone the right way and hit the brooms. It was not a difficult shot. I wanted to make sure I was throwing it right. »

Canada gave themselves a great option for victory when they scored three in the eighth end to take a 9-6 lead.

China, however, closed the gap with two points in the ninth end. Captain Ma Xiuyue landed a field goal on the button with his last rock of the match, putting his team in position to steal a point.

Gushue, who posted a 90 percent efficiency rate during the game, was just as accurate on his last stone, confirming the victory for his foursome.

“Every win here is a good one,” Gushue said. We played well, but we didn’t play very well. They made a few mistakes in the eighth end and that gave us a chance to score three. If China get those shots we probably only get one point and at 7-6 you don’t know what can happen. »

Later Tuesday, Gushue and his teammates suffered a 7-6 extra-set loss to the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) team.

The loss leaves Canada with a 5-3 record while the ROC is 4-4. The teams occupying the first four places at the end of the preliminary round will advance to the semi-finals.

Currently third, Canada will need a win over Great Britain on Thursday to secure a spot in the playoffs. This will be Canada’s last outing in the preliminary tier.

Things will get more complicated if Canada loses.

“It’s a disappointing game. We let so many opportunities slip away,” Gushue said following the loss.

“On a few occasions in the first five or six sets, we could easily have scored two or three runs. But each time, it seems like we let them go. »

As Gushue and his teammates tried to overcome the ROC, Great Britain (6-1) inflicted a first loss to Sweden (7-1) by the score of 7-6. These two countries have already qualified for the elimination round.

The women’s team led by Jennifer Jones (3-3) was not in action on Tuesday. It will face the United States and China on Wednesday.

Following Tuesday’s games, the Canadians tied for sixth place with South Korea.

Great Britain, Japan and the United States all share identical records at 4-3, tied for third.

Switzerland (6-1) leads the standings, ahead of Sweden (5-2).

Men’s round robin standings

Women’s round robin standings