SAPPORO, Japan — Canada will play Switzerland for the gold medal at the world women’s curling championship.
Winnipeg skip Jennifer Jones, third Kaitlyn Lawes, second Jill Officer and lead Dawn McEwen defeated Russia’s Anna Sidorova 7-4 in Saturday’s semifinal at the Tsukisamu Gymnasium.
They’ll face Switzerland’s Alina Patz in Sunday’s final.
Jones was sharp in the contest, throwing four double-takeouts to lead her team into the gold-medal game after losing 6-4 to the Swiss in the Page playoff 1-2 contest earlier Saturday.
Switzerland also defeated Canada 7-6 in the round robin on Wednesday.
"It’s awesome to sweep those and awesome to see those rocks go out of the ice," said Officer, who, along with Jones and McEwen, were members of the most recent Canadian team to win the women’s title in 2008 at Vernon, B.C. "We came out on a mission, and we had to build some confidence as a team to go into the game tomorrow."
The Canadians shook off the disappointing loss to Switzerland and started impressively against the Russians, scoring two in the first end on a Jones double takeout.
Canada increased its lead with a steal of one in the second after Sidorova’s runback double-takeout attempt jammed. After the Russians scored one in the third, Canada came back with two in the fourth on Jones’s draw to the four-foot.
"Honestly, the biggest shot of the game was probably the double in the first end," Jones said. "We hadn’t scored a two in the morning game, and we were chasing a little bit in the first end (against Russia) and we found a way to get our deuce.
"I could see we were going to come out fighting in this game. We were determined, and we wanted the opportunity to play in that gold-medal game. We showed spark and fire, perseverance and desire."
Russia will play Scotland’s Eve Muirhead in the bronze-medal game Sunday.
The Canadians, meanwhile, will play a Swiss team that’s in pursuit of that country’s third world title in four years. Mirjam Ott won in 2012 at Lethbridge, Alta., before Binia Feltscher did so last year in Saint John, N.B.
Jones said the final will come down to execution.
"We have to put some pressure on them, make some really key draws and try to make their shots hard," she said. "If we do that, and leave it all on the ice, hopefully we’ll have a shot at the win, but at least we won’t have any regrets."
Canada leads all countries with 15 gold medals and 31 podium appearances at the world championship since 1979. Sweden is next with eight gold and 23 total medals.
"Finals are great, that’s what you play a sport for, those adrenalin rushes that go with a final," said Jones. "What I love about our team is that we never give up.
"We came out here and showed grit and determination — I’m so proud to play with these girls."