Canadian Women Win the 2008 Ford World Championship

Jennifer Jones and her rink won the championship game against China, 7-4, running the Chinese out of rocks in the 10th end.

The big blow came early. China began by taking only one, but then Canada scored three in the second. After that the teams traded singles for a few ends, but then with Canada up 4-3 with the hammer, Canada took two in the seventh to go up 6-3, and the game was all but out of sight for Canada.

Somehow it doesn't seem right that China beat Canada twice on the way to this game and then lost the last one, but that's the way the championship is structured. And watch out for the team from China in the future -- they spend an inordinate amount of time practicing and will likely be even better in the future.

I must say, in this game the Jones rink look VERY good, especially compared with their near-misses and losses earlier in the tournament.

Congratulations to Team Canada! And also to China, Japan, and Switzerland, all of whom curled so well and provided much better entertainment that many had expected.

Memo to Mike Harris:It's China, not Japan!

Does it bother anyone else that Mike Harris has called the Chinese team "Japan" so often during the championship game? At the very least it's disrespectful, and I shudder to speculate what else it might mean.

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.

Draw 16, 2008 Ford World Women's Championship

Let me once again, though probably already anticipated, express my extreme disappointment in not having been able to see this draw in Canada. Three of the games went to an extra end, and Japan defeated China while Sweden defeated Denmark. As a result there will have to be at least one tie-break tomorrow (Friday) involving Japan and Denmark; furthermore, China, Canada, and Switzerland are in a 3-way tie at the top of the round-robin standings with records of 8W, 2L.

Too bad we had to miss it.

Addendum: What is this nonsense?
Am I mistaken, or will we also not be able to watch the tie-breaker(s) in Canada???

The TSN broadcast schedule says nothing about their televising any tie-breakers.

CCA! Did you have anything to do with this crappy broadcast restriction?

Can Anyone Stop China?

I missed the middle ends of the game between Canada and China during the 9th draw. But my students and I saw that last few ends. We were really impressed with the shooting of the Canadian team, firing take-out rocks through the narrow port to remove Chinese shot-rocks so deftly drawn there. And when Jones had a draw to the 8-foot to win, we were sure Team Canada would emerge victorious, despite our concerns about their not having kept the end cleaner.

Going into that match, every one of the Team Canada curlers was ranked number one at her position by Curlcast [ I'm not sure if that link will work; if it doesn't, you can find the Curlcast data by following the links from the CCA. The stats from this morning's draw still have not been posted, but from what I saw, I was mighty impressed overall with the team from China. They look to be a serious force with which other teams must reckon.

And now, halfway through the 10th draw, even though it is not being shown in Canada, we can see from Curlcast that China is leading the USA 7 - 1 after five ends. Can anyone stop China?

Canada-China after 3 Ends

Wow, does Wang, the skip for China, ever look good! Those two draws in the 2nd end were mighty fine. And to be blunt, Jones is really off: After drawing to score 1 in the 3rd end, Jones was curling a paltry 50%, way below her usual. Still, the overall curling percentages don't differ tooooo much, and Canada is trailing only 3-1 without the hammer after 3 ends. But now my day job calls... 8-(.

Battle of the Undefeated Teams

Today (Tuesday) at 11:30am Canada and China meet each other at the 2008 Women's World Curling Championships.

• Fortunately, TSN.ca is carrying the match, since I'm stuck in the office until 1pm.
• Unfortunately, I have to teach at 1pm.
• Fortunately, I am going to declare an optional field trip for the class at 1pm to Gryph's, the pub on campus at the University of Guelph, where we will discuss the economics of the present curling establishment. 8-)
  

Team Canada will have its work cut out for it; Jones and her rink did not particularly shine in their last two games (vs. Italy and vs. Russia), as TSN said:

Jones's Winnipeg foursome looked ordinary, but still managed to pull out a pair of wins Monday at the Ford world women's curling championship. A 9-6 triumph over Italy's Diana Gaspari and an 8-6 victory over Liudmila Privivkova of Russia left Canada in a tie with the upstart Chinese atop the standings at 5-0 through eight draws. The Canadians made more than their share of mistakes Monday, but came through with key shots when they needed them the most.