MOOSE JAW, Sask. – The province of Manitoba has produced some of this country’s greatest curlers.
This year’s Scotties in Moose Jaw is once again highlighting it.
Jennifer Jones, who made her way into this year’s championship by winning the Wild Card game one week ago, is into the 1 vs 2 playoff game on Saturday against Team Manitoba, skipped by Kerri Einarson.
It’s a rematch of this year’s Manitoba provincial final – a game Einarson won.
It’s also a rematch of the 2018 Scotties final – Jones won that big prize.
Now the two familiar foes meet again with the winner advancing to Sunday’s championship game.
Einarson has been close to winning Canada’s crown jewel of curling before, and is ranked third in the world right now. They finished with a 9-2 record and other than the two losses, have been superb from start to finish.
Einarson did, however, give up a record-making seven-ender against New Brunswick – something the team isn’t concerned about at all.
“What seven?” Einarson said. “That’s how we look at it. We threw it in the bag. Threw it away. We’re rolling right along now.”
WATCH | Jones punches ticket to Scotties playoffs:
Jennifer Jones’ Wild Card rink beat Robyn Silvernagle’s team Saskatchewan 8-4 to book a spot in the Scotties Tournament of Hearts playoffs. 0:33
Jones has been there, done that. In fact, she’s chasing history in Moose Jaw.
If Jennifer Jones is able to capture this year’s Scotties, it’ll be her seventh. No other skip has done that. She also won the championship the last time it was in Moose Jaw five years ago.
“We’re in a really good spot right now,” Jones said. “All in all, we’re feeling really good but we’re playing some really tough teams.”
The two teams will battle Saturday night inside Mosaic Place.
Another playoff provincial rivalry
So while two Manitoba teams will battle for a spot in the Scotties final, earlier in the day Saturday two Ontario teams will play to stay alive.
The winner plays the loser of Jones versus Einarson while the loser is out of the competition.
Rachel Homan and her Ontario team play Northern Ontario. Skip Krista McCarville, from Thunder Bay, has once again found herself in the final four at a Scotties.
But never before, like Einarson, has she been able to win it all. McCarville lost the Scotties championship game four years ago to Chelsea Carey in Grand Prairie.
There was a time during this week it looked as though the team might miss the playoffs all together after a shocking loss to Nunavut. Since then, they haven’t lost.
The game following that loss to Nunavut, McCarville curled 100 per cent.
WATCH | McCarville throws perfect game against Walker:
Northern Ontario’s Krista McCarville threw a perfect game in a 4-3 wi. over Alberta’s Laura Walker. 0:42
She plays her best with her back against the wall.
“I don’t know what it is. We just need that intensity. We need that focus,” McCarville said.
While McCarville enjoys the pressure, she says she’s taken a different approach to this year’s Scotties.
“I just wanted to have fun this year because when you’re uptight you don’t play well,” she said.
“I honestly feel better this year. Usually I’m so nervous at this point.”
She’s playing free and says her Northern Ontario team has been working toward this moment all season.
“We play for the Scotties. This is where we want to be,” McCarville. “This is what I play for.”
Redemption for Homan?
Consider the last two years for Homan.
There was the disappointment of the Olympics.
Then there was the disappointment of last year’s Scotties final, when she had two shots to win the championship, only to come up short.
This past summer, she gave birth to her first child, a baby boy.
It has been an emotional roller coaster for Homan and yet she continues to curl at an incredibly high level – now in another playoff battle at the Scotties.
WATCH | Homan wins championship round opener:
Rachel Homan’s Ontario rink defeated Northern Ontario’s Krista McCarville 9-4 to open the championship round at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts. 1:01
“A Scotties is a grind and a long week,” Homan said. “We’re going to try and outlast the rest of them.”
Homan has won the championship three times, her last title coming three years ago in St. Catharines.
She’d love nothing more than to get back to another title game.
“You have to stay in the moment. We’re all top teams and we’re all battling. We’re just staying in the moment,” she said.
TORONTO – Reigning PWHL MVP and scoring champ Natalie Spooner will miss the start of the regular season for the Toronto Sceptres, general manager Gina Kingsbury announced Tuesday on the first day of training camp.
The 33-year-old Spooner had knee surgery on her left anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) after she was checked into the boards by Minnesota’s Grace Zumwinkle in Game 3 of their best-of-five semifinal series on May 13.
She had a goal and an assist in three playoff games but did not finish the series. Toronto was up 2-1 in the semifinal at that time and eventually fell 3-2 in the series.
Spooner led the PWHL with 27 points in 24 games. Her 20 goals, including five game-winners, were nine more than the closest skater.
Kingsbury said there is no timeline, as the team wants the Toronto native at 100 per cent, but added that “she is doing really well” in her recovery.
The Sceptres open the PWHL season on Nov. 30 when they host the Boston Fleet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A top official of the Pakistan Cricket Board declined Friday to confirm media reports that India has decided against playing any games in host Pakistan during next year’s Champions Trophy.
“My view is if there’s any problems, they (India) should tell us in writing,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi told reporters in Lahore. “I’ll share that with the media as well as with the government as soon as I get such a letter.”
Indian media reported Friday that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has communicated its concerns to all the Champions Trophy stakeholders, including the PCB, over the Feb. 19-March 9 tournament and would not play in arch-rival Pakistan.
The Times of India said that “Dubai is a strong candidate to host the fixtures involving the Men in Blue” for the 50-over tournament.
Such a solution would see Pakistan having to travel to a neutral venue to play India in a group match, with another potential meeting later in the tournament if both teams advanced from their group. The final is scheduled for March 9 in Pakistan with the specific venue not yet decided.
“Our stance is clear,” Naqvi said. “They need to give us in writing any objections they may have. Until now, no discussion of the hybrid model has happened, nor are we prepared to accept one.”
Political tensions have stopped bilateral cricket between the two nations since 2008 and they have competed in only multi-nation tournaments, including ICC World Cups.
“Cricket should be free of politics,” Naqvi said. “Any sport should not be entangled with politics. Our preparations for the Champions Trophy will continue unabated, and this will be a successful event.”
The PCB has already spent millions of dollars on the upgrade of stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi which are due to host 15 Champions Trophy games. Naqvi hoped all the three stadiums will be ready over the next two months.
“Almost every country wants the Champions Trophy to be played here (in Pakistan),” Naqvi said. “I don’t think anyone should make this a political matter, and I don’t expect they will. I expect the tournament will be held at the home of the official hosts.”
Eight countries – Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan – are due to compete in the tournament, the schedule of which is yet to be announced by the International Cricket Council.
“Normally the ICC announces the schedule of any major tournament 100 days before the event, and I hope they will announce it very soon,” Naqvi said.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Ottawa‘s Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand are through to the doubles final at the WTA Finals after a 7-6 (7), 6-1 victory over Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States and Australia’s Ellen Perez in semifinal action Friday.
Dabrowski and Routliffe won a hard-fought first set against serve when Routliffe’s quick reaction at the net to defend a Perez shot gave the duo set point, causing Perez to throw down her racket in frustration.
The second seeds then cruised through the second set, winning match point on serve when Melichar-Martinez couldn’t handle Routliffe’s shot.
The showdown was a rematch of last year’s semifinal, which Melichar-Martinez and Perez won in a super tiebreak.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will face the winner of a match between Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, and Hao-Ching Chan and Veronika Kudermetova in the final on Saturday.
Dabrowski is aiming to become the first Canadian to win a WTA Finals title.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
