Canada’s Jennifer Jones must win her round-robin finale and get a little bit of help to advance to the Olympic curling semifinals in Beijing after the Winnipeg skip suffered a costly loss on Wednesday.
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China’s Han Yu (4-5) snapped Jones’ three-game winning streak and dropped Canada’s record to 4-4 with an 11-9 triumph in an extra end.
With one game left in the round-robin, Canada is tied for fourth with Great Britain and South Korea. The top four teams advance to the semifinals.
If Canada beats Denmark (2-6) on Thursday at 1:05 a.m. ET, Jones has a good shot to advance — though it is not guaranteed.
Six of eight scenarios with Canada winning in the final draw get Jones a semifinal spot. The other two scenarios force results in the pre-game draw-shot challenge to be used — and Canada’s poor ranking means it would likely be eliminated if it goes that way.
Jones, the 2014 Olympic champ, missed a runback with two Chinese stones near the button on the final shot in a wild game on Wednesday.
The Winnipeg skip trailed 3-0 after giving up steals in the first two ends, but roared in front 8-5 after scoring five in a huge sixth end.
However, China then scored a deuce and stole one in the eighth to tie it at 8-8.
Earlier Wednesday, Jones beat American Tabitha Peterson 7-6 by scoring the decisive single with hammer in the 10th.
Canada wraps up round-robin play on Thursday at 1:05 a.m. ET against Denmark (2-6).
Switzerland’s Silvana Tirinzoni leads the way at 7-1, followed by Sweden (6-2) and Japan (5-3).
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