Canada and China rematch in playoffs

Despite China's incredible play this week at the Ford World's, there were few people who expected them to defeat Canada's Jennifer Jones in the round-robin. China isn't known to be one of the curling powerhouses, but this year they've proven themselves to be a real threat to anybody. China, Switzerland and Canada all finished with 9-2 records in the round-robin. A draw to the button that took place before the tournament was used to determine who would play in the 1 vs. 2 page playoff game, and who would get stuck in the 3 vs. 4. Not surprisingly, these three teams were actually the three teams with the best pre-tournament draws of all twelve competing teams. However, it was Canada and China that just edged out Switzerland.

Basically, this messy situation gives Canada second life. Should they lose the playoff game to the Chinese, they would still be in contention. Canada would have to play in the semi-final game against the winner of the 3 vs. 4 playoff game. If Canada wins against China, they advance directly to the final and get to rest on Saturday.

Last time these two teams met, it was China who walked away with the shocking upset. In the final end, China sat two rocks in the house leaving Jones a routine draw to the four-foot. For whatever reason, Jones slid her rock through the house which gave Canada it's first loss of the tournament. That round-robin loss would only make a victory today that much more enjoyable for Canada, especially for Jones, who took the heat for the loss.

"I kind of screwed up on that one," Jones admitted. "Hopefully we'll have that shot to win again."

The game gets underway at 9:00 pm (EST) and will be broadcast on TSN. A tie breaker will take place at 11:30 am (EST) between Denmark and Japan, with the winner moving on to the playoffs against Mirjam Ott of Switzerland.