Canada beats China 7-4 to win world women's curling championship

James Bisson, THE CANADIAN PRESS
VERNON, B.C. - Jennifer Jones's foursome had a good feeling prior to their gold-medal showdown with China.

Imagine how they felt afterward.

The Winnipeg quartet won its first Ford world women's curling championship, beating China's Bingyu Wang 7-4 in Sunday's final. The victory helped Jones avenge two earlier losses to Wang, who had a marvellous week to reach the championship but was outplayed by the two-time Canadian champion for most of the gold-medal game.

Jones had a simple answer for how it felt to be a world champion.

"Pretty darned good," said Jones. "I can't even begin to describe it. You always dream of it, and you never know how many chances you're going to get.

"I thought we went out and controlled that game. I thought we deserved it today."

Jones, lead Dawn Askin, second Jill Officer and third Cathy Overton-Clapham became the first Canadian team to win the title on home ice since Marilyn Bodogh in 1996. The victory will also take some of the sting away from the team's fourth-place finish at the 2005 world championship in Paisley, Scotland.

Jones said her team had a good idea early on that things would go in their favour.

"I knew it from the moment we had our practice that we were going to come out and play well," said Jones. "We get a feeling about our team, and we knew it from the moment that we stepped on the ice."

Officer said she knew even earlier.

"I woke up and I had those butterflies," said Officer. "It's a good sign. My dad tells me if you're not nervous, then you're not ready. I had those good butterflies, and they were flying formation, so it was a good sign."

For Wang, lead Yan Zhou, second Qingshuang Yue and third Yin Liu, the second-place result was equal parts unexpected and impressive. The Chinese have played in just four world championships, and came into the tournament having finished no better than fifth.

Wang wanted to win gold, but was more than happy to settle for silver.

"We hoped we could win the game," Wang said. "I said before the game, Canada is really a strong team, so (for us) it was just to enjoy it here. This is our first time."

China's runner-up performance all but assures the country a berth in the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver - something that means more to Wang than finishing second here.

"It's not so popular, not so many people play this game," she said. "I hope we can make curling more popular, so more people will know about it and play it."

Jones's foursome opened the tournament looking like they might go unbeaten - just as they did in their final eight games of the Scotties Tournament of Hearts. The team faced its share of struggled as the tournament progressed, developing the bad habit of falling behind by multiple points early in games.

In most cases, they fought back to win - and no comeback was bigger than the one they staged Saturday, stealing points in the 10th and 11th ends to stun Japan 9-8 in the semifinal.

Given Jones's mistake in Canada's first game against China - it was her missed draw in the 10th end that gave Wang the victory - it seemed fitting that her final shot gave Canada its golden moment. Jones threw her arms in the air as her shot caromed off a Chinese guard, clinching the victory.

She scurried over to her teammates to exchange hugs as the sellout crowd of 3,004 at the Greater Vernon Multiplex stood and cheered.

Wang, 23, showed composure beyond her years, opening the competition with seven straight victories and leading her team to a 7-5 win over Canada in the semifinal game. Playing in front of a vocal crowd at the Greater Vernon Multiplex on Sunday, Wang showed flashes of greatness but ultimately struggled to keep pace with the more experienced Canadians.

Jones said she wasn't surprised by China's success on the world stage.

"They play a ton of bonspiels in Canada, and they do well," said Jones. "This is great ice for China, because they get a lot of late movement off their rocks. We weren't surprised at all."

Playing without the hammer, Jones defended well from the start. After Wang played her first shot around her own guard but rolled a shade too far, Jones sent her final shot into the rings to protect Canada's shot stone. That forced Wang to draw to the button for one.

Wang followed with one of her bigger gaffes of the tournament. Attempting to clear a Canadian stone out of the house, she jammed it on one of her own stones to leave Canada lying two. That left Jones with a draw for three, and she made no mistake.

Wang suffered another hiccup in the third end, failing to roll her shooter out of the rings while attempting a blank. Jones did the same thing one end later, settling for one point and a 4-2 lead.

Canada limited the Chinese to a single again in the fifth after Jones made a fantastic takeout with her final shot, forcing Wang to draw for one.

The sixth end saw the teams load the house with rocks - up to nine sat in the rings at one point. Jones capped the wild end with her best shot of the game, playing a double-raise takeout to score two as the crowd erupted.

The teams traded singles in the eighth and ninth ends, and Canada ran the Chinese out of rocks in the 10th to ignite the celebration.

© The Canadian Press, 2008