Thrilling home stretch coming up

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This article was published 01/02/2020 (2237 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

RIVERS, Man. — Twelve teams came into the round robin at the 2020 Manitoba Scotties Tournament of Hearts and now, after the first stage of play, four are still standing: Tracy Fleury. Kerri Einarson. Jennifer Jones. Kristy Watling. 

That sets the stage for some of the most exciting home stretch battles in Scotties history. Those four, the top two finishers from each round robin pool, move into the championship round, where they will duke it out for a claim on one of Sunday’s three playoff spots. 

The team with the best overall record will get a bye to Sunday’s final, with the next two heading to the semifinal. 

From the Asham Express Red group, the emissaries are Einarson and Jones, who clashed for the first — but quite possibly not the last — time this week in the last draw of Friday’s round robin. It was an absolute stunner of a game, an extra-end thriller one which saw Einarson edge Jones 7-6 on a heartstopping final draw.  

The win by Einarson put both teams at 4-1 on the week, which dashed any chance that Darcy Robertson (3-2) and Abby Ackland (3-2) had of going into tiebreakers. Robertson beat Ackland 9-5 in their last round robin game; they needed an Einarson loss to survive.  

From the Asham Black group, Fleury will look to keep her 5-0 record perfect against Jones and Einarson, while Watling, a rising skip making her third appearance at the women’s provincials, carries a 4-1 record. 

Watling was buzzing after her last game of the day, a narrow 6-5 win over Theresa Cannon, who fell to 2-3 on the week and out of contention. Most of all, she was looking forward to going toe-to-toe with the big guns in the next round.

“I think it’s going to be insane in here,” Watling said. “The crowds have been absolutely amazing, Rivers have done such a good job. We’re just so happy to be in the spot that we’re in, and looking forward to keeping the play up and see where we end up tomorrow.” 

The Asham Black group wrapped up at 4 p.m. as Fleury rose 8-5 over fourth seed Beth Peterson, who had come to Rivers hungry to improve on last year’s tiebreaker finish. But that game handed Peterson her third loss of the week, extinguishing her hopes of moving forward. 

The 2020 Manitoba Scotties Tournament of Hearts runs through Sunday at Riverdale Community Centre. The semifinal and final on Sunday will be televised live on Sportsnet, with coverage set to begin at 9 a.m.

For those interested in seeing it live, organizers are advertising a $10 Super Curl Sunday pass — but come early, because if the way the week’s crowds have gone is any indication, the arena will be sold out.  

melissa.martin@freepress.mb.ca