The Canadians took an early lead with a steal in the first end after Russian skip Anna Sidorova's attempt at an ambitious shot did not quite come off, but Russia then turned the contest around, taking a 2-1 lead after end three.

That forced the imperious Canada to show their spirit and character as they fought back to edge ahead after the fourth end, and it was an advantage they never relinquished as skipper Jennifer Jones drew her shot right onto the button to deny Russia a fifth straight win.

"I was happy with how we played - we finally had two games back to back where we played well and made some big shots and some big draws," she said.

"It was a big win so we're happy."

It also proved to be a successful session for Japan, who claimed an 8-5 win over Finland in what was a tight contest right up until the latter stages, when the Japanese managed to score three in the ninth end.

Hosts Japan kept up the pressure with another strong victory on the third day of the World Women's Curling Championships in Sapporo ©World Curling Federation



Those two results ensured today's play finished with a four-way tie at the top of the leaderboard following Switzerland's commanding 7-3 victory against China in the morning session, with Canada, Japan, Russia and the Swiss all tied on four wins and one loss.

China, Germany and Scotland are the other nations with a positive overall record with three wins from five matches.

Both the Germans and the Scots won tight battles with the United States today, while Germany also edged out Finland 7-6, while Scotland squeezed past Norway 8-7.

Finland and Sweden are each on two wins after eight sessions of play, while Denmark have only won once and both Norway and the US remain yet to get off the mark.

Action continues in Sapporo tomorrow, with the round-robin stage due to conclude on Thursday (March 19).

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