Canada Steals in the 10th and 11th to Advance to the Gold Medal Round

Wow! Canada started off the semi-final playoff against Japan with the hammer but quickly lost it by taking only 1 when it had the hammer, while Japan took two when they had it. After five ends, the score was tied 3-3, and Japan had the hammer.

Then Japan scored three to lead 6-3 and, to be honest, I had all but given up on the Jones rink. They weren't curling well, and there seemed to be confusion, if not dissent, on the team. If there had been Tradesports betting on the outcome, the price of a contract for Jones to win would have been pretty low!

But Jones took two in the ninth, then stole one in the tenth after an phenomenal freeze, and then stole one more in the 11th when the Japanese skip came up light on a draw to the button. Team Canada curled up a storm in those last three ends!

Tonight, a rematch between Japan and the Swiss. Tomorrow, Canada vs. China. Both games should be good, between teams that seem, overall, to be well-matched. In curling percentages during the round robin, Canada was better than China, but as one who saw quite a few games, I'm not persuaded by those percentages: China looks really , really good.