Team Canada readies for rematch with Switzerland

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This article was published 20/03/2015 (4043 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

SAPPORO, Japan — The first time Team Canada encountered the Swiss sharpshooters at these world women’s curling championships, the result didn’t go their way.

Now, Jennifer Jones will rally for a rematch, and this time a final berth is on the line.

Jones and her Team Canada foursome will square off in Sapporo this morning — that’s 7 p.m. on Friday night, Winnipeg time — against Switzerland’s Alina Paetz in the 1 vs. 2 page playoff game. The game will be broadcast live on TSN.

Paetz earned her spot by rocking 10-1 through the preliminary round, while Jones and Team Canada finished 9-2 — one of those losses being a tough fall against Switzerland on Wednesday.

So how do they stack up? Cumulatively through the week, the differences between the teams are narrow. Paetz was the most accurate skip in the competition, with a 79 per cent percentage — but Jones sat third at 77. As a team, those razor-thin disparities are reversed, with Canada shooting 79 per cent against Switzerland’s 78.

If Jones drops the top page game, she’ll still get another crack at making the ultimate match. The loser of the Canada-Switzerland game will move on to face Russia in Saturday’s semifinal.

Russia’s Anna Sidorova earned her semifinal berth with a 7-2 Friday win over Scotland’s Eve Muirhead in the 3 vs. 4 page playoff game. That was a disappointing finish for Muirhead, the 2013 world champion and perennial favourite.