Canada’s Jennifer Jones didn’t lose a game in her first Olympic appearance in 2014.
She’s having difficulty avoiding defeats in her return to the Winter Games eight years later.
Jones extended her losing skid to three games on Sunday by dropping an 8-4 decision to Switzerland’s Silvana Tirinzoni. The result essentially left Canada (1-3) in must-win territory for the rest of the round-robin schedule.
“I believe in her and I believe in this team and we all believe in each other,” said Canadian coach Viktor Kjell. “So I look forward to tomorrow. It’s going to be a good day.”
Jones will play twice on Monday at the Ice Cube. She’s scheduled to take on Russia’s Alina Kovaleva in the morning and Great Britain’s Eve Muirhead in the evening.
It’s possible — although unlikely — that Jones could still make the four-team playoff cut with a fourth loss.
Jones had some momentum against the unbeaten Swiss side after a force in the seventh end. But she barely ticked a peel attempt in the eighth and gave up a steal of two.
Another steal of two followed in the ninth end and Jones was run out of rocks in the 10th.
“I missed a really bad shot in the eighth end that I wouldn’t normally miss,” Jones said. “Unfortunately it was the wrong time to do it.”
The Canadian back end of Kaitlyn Lawes and Jones has struggled over the first four games.
Jones is last among the 10 skips with a shooting percentage of 71.8, ranking her 39th out of the 40 players in the field. Lawes is ninth among thirds at 75.0 per cent.
Those numbers simply must improve for Canada to have any hope.
“I think Jennifer Jones was not hitting very well today, the way she’s usually hitting,” Tirinzoni said. “So she made a few mistakes there and that really helped (us).”
Canada has had a difficult schedule with an opening win over South Korea’s EunJung Kim followed by losses to Japan’s Satsuki Fujisawa, Sweden’s Anna Hasselborg and now Switzerland.
“I think we just have to play like we want to play and leave it all out there and then just see what happens,” Jones said.
In other games, Sweden dumped American Tabitha Peterson 10-4, Great Britain beat Denmark’s Madeleine Dupont 7-2 and China’s Yu Han edged South Korea 6-5 in an extra end.
Switzerland (5-0), Japan (3-1) own the first two spots in the standings.
Great Britain, Sweden and the U.S. were tied in third place at 3-2. South Korea was next at 2-2 and China was alone in seventh at 2-3.
Canada (1-3) was in eighth place, ahead of only Denmark (1-4) and Russia (0-4).
Head-to-head results are the first tiebreaker. Last stone draw statistics determine seeding if more than two teams are tied. Canada was seventh on that list after six sessions of play.
Earlier, Canada’s Brad Gushue took an early lead and never looked back in a confident 10-5 win over American John Shuster.
It was a solid bounceback effort after Gushue had an off-night in a loss to Sweden on Saturday.
“It’s been a long time since we’ve lost two in a row,” Gushue said. “We were itching to get back out on the ice and get a win.”
A four-point steal in the second end gave Canada full control.
Shuster, the defending Olympic champion, missed a runback and had his double-takeout attempt roll out to stake the Canadians to the big early lead.
Both teams made substitutions after the fifth-end break with Gushue up 7-1. Alternate Marc Kennedy came on for Canadian second Brett Gallant.
Normally a third for Team Brad Jacobs, Kennedy served as an assistant coach for Canada’s mixed doubles team here before moving into the fifth role.
The Americans scored three in the sixth end but Canada iced the win with a pair in the ninth.
Sweden held off Norway’s Steffen Walstad 6-4 to remain unbeaten at 5-0.
Great Britain’s Bruce Mouat edged China’s Xiuyue Ma 7-6 and Russia’s Sergey Glukhov defeated Italy’s Joel Retornaz 10-7.
Great Britain moved into a second-place tie with Switzerland at 3-1. Canada was tied in fourth place with Russia.
The Americans fell into a sixth-place tie with China and Norway at 2-3. Denmark and Italy (0-4) remained winless.
Gushue was idle for the three-game men’s session in the evening.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 13, 2022.
TORONTO – Reigning PWHL MVP and scoring champ Natalie Spooner will miss the start of the regular season for the Toronto Sceptres, general manager Gina Kingsbury announced Tuesday on the first day of training camp.
The 33-year-old Spooner had knee surgery on her left anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) after she was checked into the boards by Minnesota’s Grace Zumwinkle in Game 3 of their best-of-five semifinal series on May 13.
She had a goal and an assist in three playoff games but did not finish the series. Toronto was up 2-1 in the semifinal at that time and eventually fell 3-2 in the series.
Spooner led the PWHL with 27 points in 24 games. Her 20 goals, including five game-winners, were nine more than the closest skater.
Kingsbury said there is no timeline, as the team wants the Toronto native at 100 per cent, but added that “she is doing really well” in her recovery.
The Sceptres open the PWHL season on Nov. 30 when they host the Boston Fleet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A top official of the Pakistan Cricket Board declined Friday to confirm media reports that India has decided against playing any games in host Pakistan during next year’s Champions Trophy.
“My view is if there’s any problems, they (India) should tell us in writing,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi told reporters in Lahore. “I’ll share that with the media as well as with the government as soon as I get such a letter.”
Indian media reported Friday that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has communicated its concerns to all the Champions Trophy stakeholders, including the PCB, over the Feb. 19-March 9 tournament and would not play in arch-rival Pakistan.
The Times of India said that “Dubai is a strong candidate to host the fixtures involving the Men in Blue” for the 50-over tournament.
Such a solution would see Pakistan having to travel to a neutral venue to play India in a group match, with another potential meeting later in the tournament if both teams advanced from their group. The final is scheduled for March 9 in Pakistan with the specific venue not yet decided.
“Our stance is clear,” Naqvi said. “They need to give us in writing any objections they may have. Until now, no discussion of the hybrid model has happened, nor are we prepared to accept one.”
Political tensions have stopped bilateral cricket between the two nations since 2008 and they have competed in only multi-nation tournaments, including ICC World Cups.
“Cricket should be free of politics,” Naqvi said. “Any sport should not be entangled with politics. Our preparations for the Champions Trophy will continue unabated, and this will be a successful event.”
The PCB has already spent millions of dollars on the upgrade of stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi which are due to host 15 Champions Trophy games. Naqvi hoped all the three stadiums will be ready over the next two months.
“Almost every country wants the Champions Trophy to be played here (in Pakistan),” Naqvi said. “I don’t think anyone should make this a political matter, and I don’t expect they will. I expect the tournament will be held at the home of the official hosts.”
Eight countries – Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan – are due to compete in the tournament, the schedule of which is yet to be announced by the International Cricket Council.
“Normally the ICC announces the schedule of any major tournament 100 days before the event, and I hope they will announce it very soon,” Naqvi said.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Ottawa‘s Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand are through to the doubles final at the WTA Finals after a 7-6 (7), 6-1 victory over Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States and Australia’s Ellen Perez in semifinal action Friday.
Dabrowski and Routliffe won a hard-fought first set against serve when Routliffe’s quick reaction at the net to defend a Perez shot gave the duo set point, causing Perez to throw down her racket in frustration.
The second seeds then cruised through the second set, winning match point on serve when Melichar-Martinez couldn’t handle Routliffe’s shot.
The showdown was a rematch of last year’s semifinal, which Melichar-Martinez and Perez won in a super tiebreak.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will face the winner of a match between Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, and Hao-Ching Chan and Veronika Kudermetova in the final on Saturday.
Dabrowski is aiming to become the first Canadian to win a WTA Finals title.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.