Red-hot Jones team has day off to prepare for playoffs

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 18/03/2015 (4042 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

SAPPORO, Japan – Two more wins will do it, for Jennifer Jones. After a seven-year drought for Canada at the world women’s curling championship, two more wins will bring the title back home.

She’ll have to wait until Saturday to take her first crack at making the final. Because Scotland’s Eve Muirhead pushed her way into a Friday tiebreaker against either China or Russia, the 1 vs. 2 page playoff battle between Jones and first-place Switzerland got bumped to Saturday at 9 a.m.

The good news: that’ll be a 7 p.m. game back home in Manitoba on Friday, airing live on TSN.

So that means a day off on Friday for Jones, third Kaitlyn Lawes, second Jill Officer and lead Dawn McEwen. Sometimes, the skipper has said she likes to keep on rolling, but after a grueling week in Japan the day of rest is welcome.

“Our schedule’s always been three in a row, and it’s long days, because it’s so far away from the hotel that you can’t leave,” she said. “So I’m looking forward to having a day off tomorrow to catch up on some rest, and relax, and feel really ready to go for the playoffs.”

It helps the confidence, a little, that the Canadian foursome wrapped the round robin in a shiny little bow, ratting off wins Thursday against Germany and Japan.

In the afternoon draw, by the Sapporo clock, the Canadians finished their preliminary round with a sleek 8-5 win over Hokkaido’s own Ayumi Ogasawara, in front of a politely boisterous hometown crowd.

Earlier, Jones clinched a 1 vs. 2 page berth with a pivotal 7-5 extra-end win over Germany’s Daniela Driendl.

Ogasawara has a lot of support from fans and sponsors here, and it showed. In the stands, a slew of bankers in sleek suits and toting briefcases beat thundersticks and cheered every time she made a shot.

But Canada took the wind out of the hometown sails early. In the second end, Jones scooped up a deuce – thanks in large part to a robust brushing job by Officer and McEwen, who helped pull her hammer draw in for the second point.

In the very next end, Ogasawara’s hammer crashed on a guard, handing Team Canada a steal of two and a 4-1 lead. The Japanese foursome still made it a game, but another steal of two for Canada in the seventh end all but put the game away.

Jones ran Ogasawara out of rocks in the final frame to seal the win, and close out the round robin with a solid 9-2 record.

By the shotmaking numbers, the tilt was Jones’ best of the week. She shot 88 per cent against Japan, and her draw weight was spot-on. Still, percentages aren’t everything, and Jones didn’t necessarily think it was her strongest showing.

“I felt really comfortable with the ice, I missed a couple of shots I’d like back, but just by a little bit,” she said. “The draw weight’s been a little challenging. We decided at the beginning of the week we were going to miss some draws, and you just have to accept it. But it’s getting a lot more consistent now, so we feel like we have it in our back pocket, which is a great feeling to have.”

So here is how the playoff picture looked, on the final day of the round robin.

Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter

Mike McIntyre | On Sports

Thursdays

Keep up to date on sports with Mike McIntyre's weekly newsletter.

Sign up for Mike McIntyre | On Sports

Sign Up

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

Switzerland’s Alina Paetz, who rocked through the show this week, will finish in first place and face Jones in the 1 vs. 2 page playoff on Saturday.

Underneath them is where it gets interesting: Scotland’s Muirhead had a bumpy ride through the round robin, but her gutsy 10-7 win over Sweden’s Margaretha Sigfridsson on Thursday afternoon lifted her to 7-4, and also guaranteed a tiebreaker game.

That’s because China and Russia were both 7-3 with one last game to go on Thursday night – and that was against each other. The winner will clinch a spot in the 3 vs. 4 page playoff game, while the loser will have to go toe-to-toe with Muirhead for a chance to make the same.

melissa.martin@freepress.mb.ca

Melissa Martin
Reporter-at-large

Melissa Martin reports and opines for the Winnipeg Free Press.

Every piece of reporting Melissa produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.