MOOSE JAW, Sask. — It looks like Newfoundland and Labrador might have to play the spoiler on the last day of preliminary-round competition at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts Canadian women’s curling championship in Moose Jaws, Sask.
The St. John’s rink of skip Erica Curtis, third Erin Porter, second Julie Devereaux and lead Beth Hamilton own a 1-4 record as they play the last two games of pool play and would need the stars to align perfectly to have any a chance at advancing to the next phase of the Scotties,
The Curtis rink would have to beat British Columbia and the Wild Card team, skipped by Jennifer Jones, then have other results to fall to their advantage just to get into a tiebreaker situation. Specifically, it would also require Prince Edward Island losing its remaining games against winless Yukon and the Northwest Territories (2-4).
The top four finishers in each of the two eight-team preliminary-round pools in Moose Jaw will move on to the championship round. Rachel Homan’s Ontario team and the Wild Card entry both enter today with 5-1 records, meaning they'll definitely advance from Newfoundland’s pool. And if any two of British Columbia, P.E.I. or Nova Scotia, all with three victories, register a win in one of their remaining games today, the Curtis rink will be officially eliminated.
Seventh-place Newfoundland had just a single game Tuesday.
A victory over Suzanne Birt’s P.E.I. squad would have improved the outlook for Curtis and Co.
But while the game was close through six ends — P.E.I. led 4-3 — Birt scored two with the hammer in the seventh, then stole three more points in the eighth to make it 9-3, resulting in the Newfoundlanders conceding.
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