Canada clinches playoff spot at curling worlds

Jennifer-Jones;-Scotties-Tournament-of-Hearts

Jennifer Jones (Jonathan Hayward/CP)

SAPPORO, Japan — Winnipeg’s Jennifer Jones skipped Canada to a guaranteed playoff spot at the women’s world curling championship on Thursday with a 7-5 extra ends win over Germany’s Daniela Driendl.

The victory improved Canada’s record to 8-2 and good enough for sole possession of second place in the 12-team round-robin standings and therefore a spot in the Page playoff 1-2 game.

"We’re really excited about that; it was our goal at the beginning of the week, to be in the one-two game," said Jones, the last Canadian skip to win a world championship, in 2008 at Vernon, B.C. "We won’t have (first-end) hammer (due to losing to the Swiss on Wednesday night), but we’re in that game, and we feel really good with the ice conditions.

"We just have to be a little sharper in a couple moments, but other than that, we’re really happy with how we’re playing right now."

The Canadians are behind only Alina Pätz of Switzerland, who improved to 9-1 with an 8-6 win over Scotland’s Eve Muirhead.

Jones, along with third Kaitlyn Lawes, second Jill Officer, lead Dawn McEwen and alternate Jennifer Clark-Rouire will face the Swiss either Friday night or Saturday morning in Sapporo, Japan, depending on tiebreaker scenarios.

Thursday’s win against Germany wasn’t always pretty, but the Canadians gradually turned up the pressure over the later ends and were rewarded.

Driendl had a shot to score as many as four for the Germans (4-6) but instead ended up raising a Canadian rock to the button to give Canada a steal to open the game.

"Oh, that would have been a hard one to come back from," said Lawes. "But we knew the ice was great this game, the speed was good. It was a little bit of a relief, and we were able to keep going and make some shots early in the game."

The Germans bounced back to take a 3-2 lead in the fifth end with a deuce, but Canada tied it with one in the sixth and a steal of one in the seventh when Driendl’s last rock was slightly wide and couldn’t push a Canadian stone away from the button.

The teams would then trade singles the next three ends to force extra time, and in the 11th, Canada tucked two rocks in the four-foot behind cover, and when Driendl was short on her final draw, Jones didn’t need to throw her own last rock.

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