Jones keeps rolling at worlds
NORTH BAY, Ont. — Canada’s Jennifer Jones was given a rather favourable schedule at the start of the world women’s curling championship and she’s taken full advantage.
The Winnipeg skip picked up two more wins Tuesday at the North Bay Memorial Gardens. She beat Denmark’s Angelina Jensen 10-5 in the morning before topping Scotland’s Hannah Fleming 8-6 in the evening.
Jones has opened the competition with six straight victories.
“They’re really in a bubble, really on a bit of a roll with a rhythm and a routine . . . I don’t think you’ve seen the best yet, it’s still to come,” said coach Elaine Dagg-Jackson.
Canada’s first three wins over the weekend went smoothly and China provided a mild test Monday.
On Tuesday, Jensen’s team was game against the host side in the early going before fading in the eighth end, giving up four points for the loss.
“We started a little bit slow, so we’ll try to fix that in the next game,” Jones said. “But we’re ending really strong, which if you’re going to pick a way to do it, that’s the way to go.”
The Canada skip put up three points over the first two ends against Scotland, but Fleming scored a deuce in the third and nailed a delicate double-tapback for three in the fifth to take the lead.
Scotland stole a single in the sixth when Jones was wide with a raise attempt. But Jones rebounded with a double takeout in the seventh to score three for a lead she wouldn’t relinquish.
The schedule will get a lot tougher for Canada starting today.
First up is an afternoon game against Olympic silver medallist EunJung Kim of South Korea (5-1).
It will be followed by a showcase matchup against Pyeongchang champ Anna Hasselborg of Sweden, who is also unbeaten at the worlds and topping the standings at 7-0.
Hasselborg defeated Anna Kubeskova of the Czech Republic 8-6 and edged Switzerland’s Binia Feltscher 5-4 on Tuesday.
“Playing Canada in Canada in front of this audience — awesome,” Hasselborg said.
Canada defeats Denmark and Scotland, now at 6-0