Canada's Jennifer Jones loses 3rd in a row in women's curling in Beijing
CBC Sports | Posted: February 13, 2022 9:00 AM | Last Updated: February 13, 2022
Canadian team falls to 1-3 with 5 games left to clinch playoff spot
Canada's Jennifer Jones is stuck in a major rut at the Beijing Olympics.
After starting the women's curling competition with a win, Jones and her Canadian team have now lost three in a row, their latest setback coming in a 8-4 defeat to Switzerland on Sunday at the Ice Cube.
A disastrous eighth end that featured back-to-back misses by Jones swung a tight game in the favour of Switzerland, who posted back-to-back steals of two to comfortably win.
"It was a good game. I missed a bad shot in the eighth end but other than that we had a really good game, made some really good shots," Jones said.
She later added: "I just can't miss in the eighth end, it changed the whole game. The ice is a little bit straight and if you get it back there's no recovering, and that's what I did. Unfortunately I missed."
While the two-time defending world champion Swiss — the only unbeaten team in the women's field — improved to 5-0, Canada's record dropped to 1-3.
There are 10 nations in the women's curling tournament, with each team playing nine games. The top four at the end of the round robin advance to the medal round. The Canadians now sit in eighth place, and with five games remaining are in serious danger of not qualifying for the playoffs.
"It's super disappointing with this loss," Jones said.
"We're going to have to go out tomorrow, one game at a time and one shot at a time, and see what happens at the end of the week."
In Sunday's other results: Sweden beat the United States 10-4, Great Britain defeated Denmark 7-2, and China edged South Korea 6-5 in 10 ends.
Jones is attempting to win her second Olympic gold medal after reaching the top of the podium in 2014 in Sochi. The Swiss team is coached by Canadian Pierre Charette.
Canada's next game is against the last place Russian Olympic Committee (0-4) on Sunday at 8:05 p.m. ET.
The Swiss scored a single in the first end following a Canadian force, and then stole one in the next end after Jones' was just off on her takeout with her final skip stone.
WATCH: The evolution of Jennifer Jones:
Canada was forced to a single to finally get on the scoreboard with Jones' draw to the button with the hammer in the third end. The Swiss opened up a 3-1 lead after four ends when Alina Pätz missed on a take-out with her final skip stone to score one. It was a lucky break for Canada as Switzerland had a chance at two.
Canada benefited from more good fortune in the fifth end as Pätz missed her last stone. That opened the door for Jones to post the first deuce of the game via a raise with her last skip stone to tie things up at 3-3.
"[That deuce was] really timely. We needed that one," Jones admitted during a quick interview with CBC Sports' Colleen Jones after the fifth end.
Canada built on its momentum and stole one in the sixth end to take the lead for the first time after a miss by Pätz on her final skip stone.
Switzerland scored one after a force by Canada to tie it at 4-4 going into the eighth end. Two consecutive misses by Jones allowed the Swiss to steal two and go up 6-4.
With the Swiss lying two, Jones' runback double attempt with her final skip stone of the ninth end missed as Canada found itself now trailing by four.
The game ended with a blanked 10th end.
"I think Jennifer Jones was not hitting very well today, the way she is usually hitting. She made a few mistakes and that really helped, especially in the eighth end when she was missing a peel. That gave us the chance to steal two. A steal of two in the eighth end is big, you know?" Switzerland's Silvana Tirinzoni said.
On the men's side, Newfoundland's Brad Gushue defeated the United States 10-5 on Saturday to improve to 3-2. Canada's next game is against Italy on Monday at 1:05 a.m. ET.
WATCH | That Curling Show: How Gushue and Jones can turn it around in Beijing: