Jennifer Jones and Canada got back on track with a crucial 11-5 win over Alina Kovaleva and the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) in the women’s curling round robin on Monday at the Beijing Games.
The Winnipeg skip had her back against the wall after losing three straight, but she and her team delivered a dominant performance to improve their record to 2-3 with four games left to qualify for the semifinals. The top four of the 10 competing nations will advance.
Canada seized control early and never relinquished it, claiming a commanding lead with steals of two in both the first and second ends. They followed it up with deuces in the fourth, sixth and ninth ends to claim the victory.
“One million per cent we needed to win that game. That was a massive win,” Jones said.
“It wasn’t that we were performing that poorly, we were just missing the wrong shots at the wrong time. If we make a different shot at a different time we might have pulled out a couple of wins early.”
While her team still has work to do, the hardest round-robin games are behind them. Canada played all the medallists from the 2018 Games before going up against the back-to-back world champion.
WATCH: Extended Highlights: Canada’s Jennifer Jones snaps 3-game skid with victory over ROC
Winnipeg skip Jennifer Jones and her rink ended a three-game losing streak with a crucial 11-5 win over Alina Kovaleva and the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC). 8:55
“I’ve won things from trailing and when you know you’ve been a front-runner, you can do it any way, but you need to get on a roll at these events,” Jones said.
“Maybe this is the start of a roll for us. If not, we’ve just got to keep playing well, just keep curling until you tell us we can’t.”
After starting off with a commanding 12-7 win over South Korea, Canada went on to suffer three straight tough losses to Japan, Sweden and Switzerland.
The losing streak was unfamiliar territory, as Jones had entered the tournament with a perfect Olympic record following Canada’s gold-medal run in 2014 — when they became the only women’s curling team to ever win Olympic gold with an undefeated record (11-0).
WATCH l That Curling Show: Team Jones isn’t afraid of the uphill battle ahead:
Jennifer Jones has been here before and Gushue’s path to Olympic glory in 2006 wasn’t smooth either. These two past champions still have the ability to get on a roll. 38:08
Jones is on a quest to end Canada’s drought in Olympic four-person curling, with no Canadian medals in the men’s or women’s tournament since winning both in 2014.
But if anyone has the experience to go far, it’s Jones. She is a six-time Scotties champion, two-time world champion and the oldest Canadian Olympian in Beijing at 47 years old.
Her team includes Jocelyn Peterman, Dawn McEwen and Kaitlyn Lawes — with Lisa Weagle as an alternate.
Canada applied early pressure against the ROC with a big steal of two in the opening end. The Canadians had another steal of two in the second end before forcing ROC to a single in the third.
Jones continued to build momentum by scoring a deuce with a great throw in the fourth end.
WATCH: Cheryl Lawes on what being a curling mom is all about
Kaitlyn Lawes’ mother Cheryl talks about the tough task ahead for Canada, her past Olympic experiences and the story behind her special Canadian flag. 6:27
The ROC responded by scoring two in the fifth, but Canada had the hammer in the sixth and Jones scored another deuce to put Canada in full control with an 8-3 lead.
The ROC kept things interesting by scoring two in the seventh, but Jones scored a single in the eighth before finishing things off with a deuce in the ninth end.
“I thought we played well from the first rock to the last rock. I’m super proud of how we played today, that was a really consistent game from the team,” Jones said.
Brad Gushue and his Canadian men’s team (3-2) will look to win their second straight when they play Italy (1-4) on Monday at 1:05 a.m. ET.
All games will be streamed live on CBC Gem, the CBC Sports app and CBC Sports’ Beijing 2022 website.
WATCH l The evolution of Jennifer Jones: performing her best under immense pressure:
CBC Analyst Colleen Jones explains how Jennifer Jones’ confidence in herself has helped her continue to improve year after year. 0:53
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