Kerri Einarson and Shannon Birchard on playoff path at Manitoba Scotties

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This article was published 27/01/2017 (3482 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

With just one more round robin game to play, Kerri Einarson controls her own fate at the 2017 Manitoba Scotties.

The defending provincial champion hung on for a 7-3 win over Michelle Englot on Friday evening, having jumped out to a lead with a couple of early steals. The result raised Einarson’s record to 5-1 on the week, setting her atop her group.

It was the first loss of the week for Englot, a seven-time Saskatchewan champion. (The rest of her team is from Manitoba, and competed in last year’s provincial final; they recruited Englot after skip Kristy McDonald retired.)

If Einarson wins her last match on Saturday morning (she’ll face Darcy Robertson), she will win the round robin group, and continue to the 1-vs-1 Page playoff game. If Einarson falls to Robertson, Englot could finish in first place.

Robertson, meanwhile, kept her playoff hopes alive with a nail-biter 6-5 win over Cathy Overton-Clapham. It was a battle of seasoned skips, with playoff elimination awaiting the one who lost; this time, that fell to Cathy O.

Robertson is now 4-2 on the week, still with a chance to snag a playoff spot; Overton-Clapham is 3-3 and out.

Elsewhere in the 4 p.m. draw, Dauphin’s Lisa Menard (3-3) beat Meghan Armit (0-6), and Portage la Prairie’s Tiffany McLean (1-5) found her first win over Beth Peterson (3-3), who had started the week with two big upset wins.

On the other side of the round robin, Shannon Birchard, Brianne Meilleur and Cheryl Reed stood in a three-way tie for second place in their group, with two games left to play. (Jennifer Jones sits in the top spot with a 5-0 record.)

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Birchard, 22, hung on to her playoff hopes with a 7-4 win over fourth seed Meilleur on Friday afternoon. The result left both skips tied at 3-2 on the week, alongside Reed, who beat Colleen Kilgallen in the midday draw.

Now, both Birchard and Meilleur have a tough test ahead. Meilleur will face Jones on Friday night; Birchard will play the Olympic champ on Saturday morning. Jones needs to win one game to clinch a spot in the 1-vs-1 Page playoff.

Jones added a fifth win to her collection on Friday, beating Assiniboine Memorial’s Joelle Brown 8-4 in eight ends.

Also in the midday draw, Thompson’s Jennifer Briscoe (2-3) found her second win in a 6-5 game against young Fort Rouge skip Christine MacKay (2-3). Their group plays again at 7:45 p.m. on Friday.

The 2017 Manitoba Scotties Tournament of Hearts round robin wraps up on Saturday morning. Playoffs will begin on Saturday evening, with the championship final set for Sunday at 3 p.m. It will be broadcast live on Sportsnet.

Melissa Martin
Reporter-at-large

Melissa Martin reports and opines for the Winnipeg Free Press.

Every piece of reporting Melissa produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.