Canada skip Rachel Homan delivers a stone in World Women's Curling Championship action against Estonia in Sydney, N.S. on Thursday, March 21, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn
TORONTO – Canadian curling legend Jennifer Jones dropped a 7-6 decision to Sweden’s Anna Hasselborg on Friday at the Princess Auto Players’ Championship in the final team game of the Winnipeg skip’s career.
Jones needed a victory to qualify for a tiebreaker on Saturday morning at the season-ending Grand Slam event.
Instead Hasselborg made the top-six cut for weekend play at the Mattamy Athletic Centre.
Jones, a six-time national women’s champion, announced her retirement plans earlier in the season.
The 2014 Olympic champion still plans to compete in mixed doubles.
Earlier, Ottawa’s Rachel Homan locked up top spot in the women’s standings and a berth in the semifinals with a 6-5 win over Japan’s Satsuki Fujisawa.
The top-ranked Homan, who won a world title last month, finished the round robin with a perfect 5-0 record.
Sweden’s Isabella Wrana took the other direct berth into the semifinal with a 5-4 win over Italy’s Stefania Constantini.
Wrana, Switzerland’s Silvana Tirinzoni and South Korea’s Eun Ji Gim finished the round robin at 4-1, but the Swedish skip had the tiebreaker with the superior shootout score.
A team’s cumulative shootout score comes from pre-game draws to the button to determine which team gets hammer.
In men’s play, Scotland’s Bruce Mouat earned a direct berth into the semifinals with a 5-4 win over Calgary’s Kevin Koe.
Winnipeg’s Mike McEwen (4-0) also secured a top-two finish with an 8-3 win over Scotland’s James Craik.
Brad Gushue (3-2) of St. John’s, N.L., secured a playoff spot despite dropping an 8-2 decision to Edmonton’s Brendan Bottcher. Italy’s Joel Retornaz edged Scotland’s Ross Whyte 8-7.
Both teams finished with 3-2 records and qualified for the playoffs.
Sweden’s Niklas Edin (3-2) secured the other playoff spot with a 3-1 win over Brad Jacobs of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.
The finals are scheduled for Sunday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 12, 2024.
Follow @GregoryStrongCP on X.
