Disappointment for Jennifer Jones, as Canada eliminated in women's curling | CBC Sports - Action News
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Disappointment for Jennifer Jones, as Canada eliminated in women's curling

Veteran skip Jennifer Jones and Canada defeated Denmark 10-4 in eight ends on Thursday but failed to make the playoffs in womens curling in Beijing as results elsewhere didnt go their way.

Canada finishes round robin with 5-4 record, just below playoff line

Canadian skip Jennifer Jones in action vs. Denmark on Thursday in Beijing. (Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters)

A wild final day of the round robin in women's curling at the Olympics ended in heartbreak for Canada's Jennifer Jones.

The Canadian team defeated Denmark 10-4 in eight ends at the Ice Cube on Thursday, but that wasn't good enough as results in the other games didn't go their way, and Jones' rink was eliminated from playoff contention in Beijing.

Jones was attempting to win her second gold medal after reaching the top of the podium in 2014 in Sochi. That was the last time Canada won an Olympic medal in women's curling.

"I'm feeling proud, but incredibly sad. I was really proud of our performance today. I thought we went out there and won a game that we had to win, and it just wasn't enough," Jones said.

"The sadness is more that it's over. We don't get to play any more that always makes me sad."

WATCH |Jones beats Denmark but Canadian women's curling team fails to advance to semifinals:

That Curling Show: Joan McCuskers untold Olympic stories

3 years ago
Duration 9:25
On the 24th anniversary of winning the gold medal in Nagano, Joan McCusker tells us some of her Olympic stories and how luck was on their side in 1998.

Canada was put into a dire situation after it saw a three-match winning streak halted by an 11-9 loss to China's Wang Rui in an extra end on Wednesday.

That defeat dropped Canada's record to 4-4 and put it into a pack of five teams battling it out during Thursday's final round with no less than 16 different win-loss scenarios in play to determine the final two semifinal berths the top four nations qualify for the playoffs.

The Canadians faced a must-win against the Danes, who were already knocked out of semifinal contention, and needed some help to claim a playoff spot. But Japan, South Korea and the Russian Olympic Committee all lost, which meant Canada's win didn't stand up. With their5-4 record, the Canadian finished in fifth place, just below the playoff line, exiting the competition via the draw shot challenge system for deciding teams that are tied in the standings..

"It's unfortunate because we've actually done really well at that this year, and it just wasn't our week for it," Jones admitted.

"I don't know. I'm never going to be of the opinion that the draw shot challenge should be how playoff teams are decided. I've been pretty vocal about it before this. It's too bad that it happened but we knew where we were at.

Denmark and Canada traded single scores after the first two ends. A free draw for two with the hammer by Jones allowed Canada to go up 3-1 after the third end. Denmark flag bearer Madeleine Dupont scored a double on a take-out with her final skip stone following a measurement to tie things up at 3-3 at the end of the fourth end.

Jones responded by scoring another deuce in the next end to make it 5-3 for Canada.

The game opened up for Jones when Dupont's last skip stone didn't make it through the port and allowed Canada to steal three and go up 8-3 after six ends. A steal of two in the seventh further padded Canada's advantage.

Having finished early, Jones and her teammates turned to action on the other sheets as they slowly watched their Olympic campaign come to an end about half an hour after their wn over the Danes.

"It was actually OK. As a player you could see what was happening. We knew our fate I think when we got off the ice; we knew what was going to happen. It wasn't nerve-racking, I guess you could say," Jones said.

Sweden will face Great Britain and Japan takes on Switzerland in the semifinals on Friday, with both games scheduled for 7:05 a.m. ET.

Earlier on Thursday, Canada's Brad Gushue lost 5-3 to Great Britain to finish the men's round robin in third place with a 5-4 record. Canada meets Sweden (7-2) in the semifinals on Friday at 7:05 a.m. ET. The British (8-1) take on the United States (5-4) in the other semifinal.

WATCH | That Curling Show: Joan McCusker's untold Olympic stories:


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