VERNON, B.C. — Jennifer Jones would have loved a chance to atone for Tuesday's mistake against China.
Thanks to solid play from the rest of her team, she didn't have to.
The Canadian skip earned a pair of victories Wednesday at the Ford world women's curling championship, improving her record to 8-1 and vaulting her rink into a share of first place with China. Both Canada and China have clinched playoff spots.
Canada opened the day with a 7-4, 11-end victory over Japan's Moe Meguro, then followed with an 8-6 triumph over Gail Munro of Scotland. Jones, lead Dawn Askin, second Jill Officer and third Cathy Overton-Clapham were efficient when they needed to be, seizing control after key mistakes from their opponents.
Canada's skip Jennifer Jones shouts to her teammates during their game against Japan at the World Women's Curling Championships in Vernon, B.C., on Wednesday. (Andy Clark/Reuters)
"We made some big shots, and we did capitalize when they missed," said Officer. "I think that that's important. When you capitalize on your opposition's misses, you're going to come out on top."
Tied 6-6 through nine ends and facing two Canadian stones deep in the rings, Munro attempted to glance off a rock and lie shot stone with her final stone. Her shot was off-line and deflected out of the house, handing Canada the victory.
A day after running her game-winning draw through the rings in a loss to China, Jones showed no apprehension. Her draws were near-perfect against Japan, forcing Meguro to make tricky shots just to avoid a big steal.
Jones also benefited from a critical error in her game against Munro. Leading 2-0 but facing three Canadian stones in the third end, Munro attempted a double-takeout but sailed her final shot well past. That left Jones to draw for a four-spot, and she made no mistake.
Canada could have ended things three ends later, but Jones misfired on a raise takeout that would have scored five. She settled for one, but didn't regret her choice afterward.
"It wouldn't make it, but we kind of battled there," said Jones. "We made sure we had hammer coming home, which is all we really wanted."
Canada's third straight victory came just moments before China's Bingyu Wang suffered her first loss of the tournament, a 9-7 defeat to Mirjam Ott of Switzerland. The Chinese (8-1) own the tiebreaker over Canada, but Jones knows two more victories will earn her a spot in the 1-versus-2 Page playoff showdown regardless of what Wang does.
"We're in the driver's seat," said Jones. "We control our own destiny, which is always what you want."
Wang, whose foursome has been the surprise of the tournament so far, looked ordinary in a loss to Ott (7-2). She made a rare mistake with her final shot in the eighth end, drawing into a bunch of Swiss stones but leaving her own exposed.
Ott, the 2006 Olympic silver medallist, calmly tapped the Chinese rock out of the rings to score five points and take the lead for good.
Canada was idle in Draw 14, but China scored three in the 10th end to beat Italy 10-8. The Italians fell to 1-8.
In other action, Sweden needed an extra end to defeat the United States 8-7, while Japan hammered Scotland 7-2. Sweden, Japan and the U.S. are all tied for fifth at 5-4.
Russia's Liudmila Privivkova (4-5) earned her second win of the day, beating Denmark 4-3. Denmark fell to 6-3 and missed a chance to move into a tie for third with idle Switzerland (7-2).
In other Draw 13 action it was: Sweden 7 Czech Republic 3 and Russia 7 Germany 6.
Earlier Wednesday, Jones scored three points in the 11th end to beat Meguro. Canadian third Cathy Overton-Clapham set up the win with a superb second shot, threading her rock between two guards, off an opposition rock in the rings and behind cover.
Meguro couldn't get either of her shots to the button, giving Jones the win without having to throw her final stone.
After two days of high-scoring matches, Jones opted for a more conservative strategy against Meguro (4-4), forcing the Japanese skip to make difficult shots all game long.
Jones said her team's rally from a five-point deficit in Tuesday night's win over the U.S. carried over against Japan and Scotland.
"We made a lot of good shots in the second half of that game to win," said Jones. "We're carrying that momentum through, and we usually finish a bonspiel strong, so we know this is when we're going to play our best."
In other Draw 12 action, it was: Switzerland 10, Italy 2; Denmark 5, Germany 4 (extra end); and U.S. 5, Czech Republic 3.
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