(by Jonathan Brazeau) SUMMERSIDE, P.E.I. — Winnipeg’s Jennifer Jones is off to the semifinals of the Players’ Championship after stealing two in the extra end for a 7-5 victory over Scotland’s Eve Muirhead on Saturday.
Muirhead missed on her first shot in the extra, allowing Jones to lie three in the house with her final stone. Muirhead, with the hammer, took out one stone but couldn’t get shot rock.
Muirhead opened the scoring with a triple in the first but Jones rallied back with a point in the second and single steals in the fourth and fifth ends to tie it 3-3. Muirhead regained the lead with a deuce in the sixth.
Trailing 5-3, Jones nailed an amazing shot with her final stone in the eighth end but couldn’t get her third rock to stay in the house and she scored two to tie it 5-5.
Jones defeated Muirhead in the semifinals of the 2014 Sochi Olympics en route to winning the gold.
Watch the men’s quarterfinals live on Sportsnet East, Ontario, West & Pacific and streaming on sportsnet.ca at 5 p.m. AT / 1 p.m. PT
Scotties champion Rachel Homan also advanced to the semifinals with a 7-5 victory over Saskatoon’s Stefanie Lawton.
Down 4-2, Homan scored a triple in the sixth end to pull ahead by one. Lawton tied it with a single in the seventh but Homan held the hammer in the final end and her final-shot takeout earned a deuce.
As Masters champions, Homan’s Ottawa rink has a shot at a $100,000 bonus if they also capture the Players’ title.
Jones will face Sweden’s Margaretha Sigfridsson in an Olympic gold-medal game rematch and Homan takes on Switzerland’s Silvana Tirinzoni at 8:30 p.m. AT (7:30 p.m. ET) live on Sportsnet East, Ontario, West and Pacific.