Barker wins Regina Highland Sask Curling Tour tournament
Penny Barker and her Moose Jaw Ford Curling Centre foursome are one step closer to landing a spot in the
Viterra Scotties provincial women’s championship.
Barker and her rink of third Deanna Doig, second Christie Gamble and lead Danielle Sicinski defeated the Sherry Anderson foursome in the final of the Regina Highland stop on the Saskatchewan Women’s Curling Tour the weekend of October 26/27.
The win gives Barker valuable points toward the SWCT standings, which will see both the champion and runner up in the final point standings land berths in the Scotties provincials in Melville Jan. 24-28.
That tournament carries even more weight than usual with the Scotties Tournament of Hearts national championship set to take place in Moose Jaw beginning Feb. 15 at Mosaic Place. Barker got off to a less than ideal start against Anderson in the final, giving up three in the first end. The Regina rink was skipped by longtime provincial curling standout Patty Hersikorn as Anderson attended the funeral for Aly Jenkins. Barker got on the board with single points in the second and third ends and after the Anderson got back on the board with one in the fourth, would hold her opponents scoreless the rest of the way. The 2017 Scotties provincial champion pulled to within one with one in the fifth and took the lead the very next end with a steal of two. Hersikorn chose to bank the seventh, but Barker would steal one in the final end to secure the win. Barker had posted a 2-1 record through the round robin and would defeat Saskatoon’s Jessica Mitchell 7-2 in the quarter-final before overcoming a 6-2 deficit and scoring six points over the final three ends to down Michelle Englot 8-6 in the semifinal. The Sask Women’s Curling Tour continues this past weekend with the Saskatoon Nutana event, where the winner will earn a direct berth into provincials.
The Moose Jaw Ford Curling Centre will host the final SWCT spiel on the Nov. 29 weekend.