Jones rolling, Einarson rights ship

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This article was published 31/01/2020 (2219 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

RIVERS, Man. — On the second day of the 2020 Manitoba Scotties Tournament of Hearts, the greats of the field looked, well, pretty great. But with just four draws left to play in the round robin and standings tight through three games apiece, there is still much to be decided. 

Among the highlights of Thursday’s three draws: Jennifer Jones (3-0) and Tracy Fleury (3-0) kept on cruising. Kerri Einarson (2-1) righted the ship after her Day 1 upset to Team Abby Ackland (3-0), and fourth seed Beth Peterson (2-1) stumbled in the midday draw to Jennifer Clark-Rouire (1-2). 

Team Ackland, meanwhile — skipped here by third Hailey Ryan, as Ackland herself is days away from giving birth — survived a tense evening challenge from Scotties veteran Terry Ursel (0-3), winning 7-6 on a game that came right down to the last draw — and that makes their round robin home stretch all kinds of interesting. 

Ackland has a daunting Friday schedule, with games against Jones and Darcy Robertson (1-2). On the other hand, Robertson now has both Einarson and Jones, who each dealt her lopsided Thursday losses, in the rearview mirror.

With only two round robin games left to go, there’s not much time to declutter the standings, or predict how playoff scenarios might shake out. 

On Saturday, the top two finishers from each pool will enter the championship round, where they’ll play the other pool’s two best teams. The teams with the top three overall records will earn one of three Sunday playoff spots: number one will get a bye to the final, with the other two duking it out in the semi.

So Friday ought to be full of fireworks. Among the key matchups: in the morning draw, Peterson will face Kristy Watling (2-1) in what could be a pivotal battle to stay in the hunt. Ackland will face Jones at 12:15, while Peterson goes head-to-head against Fleury in the 4 p.m. draw. 

But the big round robin heavyweight bout is set for 7:45 p.m., when Jones takes on Einarson — the kind of matchup you wouldn’t expect to see until the playoffs, but which now might decide someone’s chances of moving on at all.

At the same time, the Ackland-Robertson game could settle a lot. 

melissa.martin@freepress.mb.ca