We have only just begun to fight: Jones

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 08/12/2017 (3159 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA — She’s lost three in a row and hasn’t tasted victory at this event since Tuesday.

But they award no points for style at the Roar of the Rings, so while it hasn’t been pretty, all that matters this weekend is that they’re still allowing Jennifer Jones to curl.

Where’s there’s life, there’s hope.

A battered Jones has both heading into a final weekend at Canadian Tire Centre that will determine who represents Canada in curling at the 2018 Winter Olympics.

Jones lost her final round-robin game Friday night, getting drilled 9-4 by hometown favourite Rachel Homan. The loss means Jones finishes the round robin alone in third place with a 5-3 record, while Homan finishes in second at 7-1.

Those two teams meet in a rematch in the semifinal this afternoon (1 p.m. CT, TSN), with the winner advancing to Sunday’s final where they will face Calgary’s Chelsea Carey, who has Winnipeg’s Cathy Overton-Clapham at third.

Carey finished the round-robin undefeated at 8-0 and earned the automatic bye to the final.

Jones will have her work cut out for her against Homan, who has won seven straight since an opening-draw loss to Carey and looks every bit like the defending Canadian champion she is.

Throw in a hometown crowd and if Vegas set odds on women’s curling, they’d have Homan as the heavy favourite against a Jones team that comes into the game off consecutive losses on Wednesday to Carey, Krista McCarville on Thursday and Friday night to Homan.

Would now be a good time to panic? No, it’s just getting interesting, insisted a defiant Jones Friday night.

“It’s playoffs. It’s all a new day here tomorrow,” said Jones. “That’s what it’s all about, it’s what you work so hard for. Our whole career the playoffs has been so much fun.

“We’ll just enjoy the crowd, enjoy the atmosphere and enjoy what we do — we love to curl.”

Jones had won five in a row here — and 19 straight overall — before her current three-game losing streak, suggesting something went terribly wrong this week for the 2014 Olympic gold medallist.

The question now is whether she can make it right again in time for this afternoon’s semifinal. Bet on it, says Jones.

“We’ve just been missing the wrong shots at the wrong time. And so we have to go back to making the big shots at the big moments. And I think we’re going to do that,” said Jones.

To her credit, no one in the history of women’s curling has made more big shots in bigger moments than the champion women’s skip in Sochi. Her title defence will depend on her ability to recapture that form today.

Meanwhile, Homan will have some fans from Manitoba cheering for her this weekend.

Michelle Englot’s Winnipeg-based foursome has nothing against Jones — but a lot riding on Homan winning this weekend.

Englot was runner-up to Homan at last winter’s national Scotties and if Homan wins this weekend, it would be Englot who would compete at the 2018 Scotties in Penticton as Team Canada, while Homan would focus on preparing for the Olympics.

Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter

The Warm-Up

Winnipeg Jets Game Days

On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop.

Sign up for The Warm-Up

Sign Up

I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

“We’re definitely Homan fans this weekend,” Englot said Friday after her final round-robin game, a 10-3 loss to Carey that dropped her squad’s record to 2-6.

“There’s a lot on the line here for us this weekend if she wins.”

In addition to the Scotties, Englot would also earn the right to compete at next month’s Continental Cup if Homan wins it all this weekend.

paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @PaulWiecek