Regina’s Englot almost perfect

Manitoba skip 8-1 at Scotties

Regina’s Michelle Englot, who is skipping Team Manitoba, had an 8-1 record after Wednesday’s competition at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in St. Catharines, Ont.

Englot defeated Prince Edward Island’s Robyn MacPhee 10-2 in the morning draw before registering an 8-3 victory over Nova Scotia’s Mary Mattatall on Wednesday afternoon at the Canadian women’s curling championship.

Ontario’s Rachel Homan improved her record to 9-0 on Wednesday afternoon with a 7-6, extra-end victory over Northern Ontario’s Krista McCarville.

Englot, a seven-time Saskatchewan women’s champion, is the skip of the Winnipeg Granite Curling Club team that also includes third Kate Cameron, second Leslie Wilson and lead Raunora Westcott. Curling Canada rules allow for a team to have one out-of-province player at a national championship.

Also on Wednesday, the Moose Jaw-based Penny Barker team lost 7-6 in an extra end to British Columbia’s Marla Mallett in the afternoon draw. Barker, third Deanna Doig, second Lorraine Schneider and lead Danielle Sicinski carried an 0-7 record into Wednesday night’s match with the Northwest Territories’ Kerry Galusha.

On Thursday, Englot is to meet Mallett in the morning draw before an evening showdown with Homan in the final round robin match for both teams.

Barker is to play Mattatall in Thursday’s afternoon draw before meeting Team Canada’s Chelsea Carey in the evening. Barker’s final game at the 2017 Scotties will be Friday morning’s round robin matchup with MacPhee.

Page playoff games are set for Friday afternoon (1 vs. 2) and evening (3 vs. 4).

The semifinal is slated for Saturday. Gold- and bronzemedal games are scheduled for Sunday.

The final is to be held Sunday at 5:30 p.m., Saskatchewan time, with the winner to advance to the World Women’s Curling Championship March 18-26 in Beijing and return to next year’s Scotties as Team Canada.