Team Canada’s Englot edges Quebec’s Gagne 6-5 at Tournament of Hearts
It was another dominating performance for Manitoba’s Jennifer Jones at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
The five-time Scotties champion scored six in the sixth end to nail down a 14-1 win against Yukon’s Chelsea Duncan at the South Okanagan Events Centre Sunday afternoon.
The Manitoba rink scored three in the first and second ends and led 8-0 after four. Yukon scored one in the fifth end.
Jones also defeated Saskatchewan 12-5 on Saturday night to begin the tournament 2-0 and says it’s important to start off with back-to-back solid performances.
“It feels good to go out there and make a lot of your shots and then it gives you some confidence,” said Jones. “You also want to have those games where it goes down to the wire and you have to make those big shots in the later ends. I know we will have those too. It’s nice to have some games that don’t go the full distance. It’s a long week.”
Jones, of the St. Vital Curling Club in Winnipeg, said her crew wants to get used to the ice, rocks and speed early in the women’s national championship, and that Sunday’s draw tested them to do so. “We’re focusing on trying to make our shots precise and exact. Even when you have a big lead, you still want to do that.” As a team, Manitoba shot 91 per cent. Third Shannon Birchard shot 98 per cent. Wild-card entry Kerri Einarson remained undefeated in Pool A after holding off Nova Scotia’s Mary-Anne Arsenault 7-5. Einarson, who needed to beat Calgary’s Chelsea Carey on Friday night to gain entry into the main draw, scored three in the eighth end before adding a single in the 10th.
“It’s nice to get two W’s to start with. You take your losses forward so you definitely don’t want to lose any in this round,” said Einarson. Einarson was able to secure the win with an open shot in the 10th on her final rock.
“We had control of the whole entire game,” said Einarson, adding they kept it clean throughout the last end.“The skip from the East St. Paul Curling Club said it was a strange feeling not being sure if she would be competing at the Scotties.
“It’s so weird. Playing that game against Chelsea it’s like, ‘Oh my gosh. This is do or die. You are in it or you are not.’ To get that second chance is huge.” Saskatchewan’s Sherry Anderson scored four in the ninth end to beat Kerry Galusha of the Northwest Territories 8-4 and New Brunswick’s Sylvie S. Robichaud had a deuce in the 10th to get past Northern Ontario’s Tracy Fleury 8-5.
Earlier Sunday, Michelle Englot’s Team Canada rink earned its second straight win by edging Emilia Gagne of Quebec 6-5 in an extra end.
Englot, whose Winnipeg rink is replacing defending champion Rachel Homan as the Ottawa skip prepares for the Olympic Games, improved to 2-0 atop the Pool B standings. Quebec fell to 1-1.
Englot started strong with a deuce in the first end but Quebec replied with two in the second to tie it. Down 5-4 in the 10th end, Gagne scored a single to send it to the 11th. Team Canada’s Raunora Westcott shot 90 per cent throughout the victory. Chloe Arnaud led Quebec at 74 per cent.
Englot began the tournament with a 6-2 win over B.C.’s Kesa Van Osch on Saturday.
In other Sunday morning action, Newfoundland’s Stacie Curtis beat Ontario’s Hollie Duncan 8-5 and Alberta’s Casey Scheidegger topped Prince Edward Island’s Robyn MacPhee 8-6 to stay tied with Englot at 2-0 in Pool B. Nunavut’s Amie Shackleton fell to 0-2 with a 7-4 loss to B.C. The top four teams from each pool advance to the championship round.