Roar Of The Rings: Heather Nedohin gets up off the mat, Jennifer Jones bounces back with a vengeance

Heather Nedohin isn't going away early, turns out. Even with a troubling inturn.

The 2012 Scotties champion, reeling after consecutive losses to open the Canadian Olympic Curling qualifier (Roar Of The Rings), is right back in the playoff mix after defeating the previously unbeaten Val Sweeting, 6-5.

Nedohin scored the decisive point in the tenth end, neatly planting an inturn draw in the back of the four-foot against backing. That was no given, considering the fact that she'd thrown three inturn draws previously in the game, with a lamentable 58% efficiency rating.

Now at 2-2, Nedohin and her teammates Beth Iskiw, Jessica Mair and Laine Peters are in contention, facing a huge game on Wednesday morning against Rachel Homan, who has scrambled her way to a 2-2 record as well, beating Sherry Middaugh (1-3) in eleven ends. Middaugh must feel she deserves better. The leading skip in the competition at 84%, her team stands second to Team Jones (87%), in shooting percentage, at 86%.

Continuing her mostly improved play (she started the tournament with games of 75% and 77% but now has a four-game average of 80%), Nedohin turned the game against Sweeting in her favour in the 7th, with a tasty runback takeout and stick for three, forging a 5-2 lead.

Nedohin always seems to watch her own shots with the grave concern of a parent watching their child attempt to ride a bike for the first time. It's endearing, and entirely relatable for those of us who watch our own stones spin down the ice at the local club on a Tuesday night.

In her game against Sweeting, she needn't have been so concerned, with the exception of those draws. A well-short attempt in the 8th was followed by a draw that was too hot, handing Sweeting a deuce and leading to Nedohin uttering her trademark "sugarballs." in response.

While Nedohin and her mates have fought back, the skip's troubles with the draw are still concerning. The adventure in the 8th end was followed by a heavy attempt in the ninth, allowing Sweeting to tie at five.

When she really needed it though, Nedohin was money, in the tenth.

With Sweeting subdued, Jennifer Jones took the opportunity to pull even at the top of the women's standings.

Seems Jones was a little angry at giving up a seventh end steal of four in a 9-6 loss to Sweeting on Monday night and took it out on Renee Sonnenberg, in a 7-2 romp.

Jones really ought to be undefeated instead of 3-1, as she essentially gave the game away to Sweeting on Monday. Playing well enough to win, Jones let it slip away with some questionable calls and an uncharacteristic draw through the rings in that fateful seventh.

Stefanie Lawton's 7-5 win over Chelsea Carey has her back in contention, with each of them emerging from the game with a 2-2 record.

Lawton will take a crack at Jones in the Wednesday morning draw. If she beats her, and Middaugh can pull down Sweeting, the standings will get very interesting.