Jones clinches playoff spot

With only a few draws remaining at this year's Ford World Women's Curling Championship, Team Canada has secured a berth in the playoffs. Right now, Canada is tied with China for first place with an 8-1 record and only two games to go. Neither of Canada's remaining games will be simply either. In this morning's draw, they'll be taking on Denmark, currently sitting in fourth place and fighting to hang on to the last playoff spot. Then this evening, in the final round-robin draw, Canada will play Sweden, who is still in the hunt for a tie-breaker.

Canada could finish as low as fourth place, assuming they lose both games today. This would put them into the 3 vs. 4 page playoff game. However, should Canada win both games, they could finish as high as first place, if China loses one of its two games today (against Japan and Germany). If China wins both games, however, there's nothing Canada can do to overtake them. Since China defeated Canada in the round-robin, they will be given first place should they finish in a tie with Canada. Either way, Jones is content with the situation.

"We're in the driver's seat. We control our own destiny, which is always what you want," Jones said to reporters after their win yesterday over Scotland.

No matter what happens now, Jennifer Jones has already beaten her previous World Championship record that she established back in 2005. Jones missed the championship match this year, but if things keep going as well as they have, we can be sure that she'll have her chance this year.

The playoffs start Friday, with the Semi-Final on Saturday and the Championship Match taking place on Sunday.