Jennifer Jones will miss the team in the Scotties Tournament of Hearts for the 17th time in her career after beating Abby Ackland 10-5 to win the Manitoba women’s curling championship Sunday.
Only Colleen Jones (21) and her deputy Kim Kelly (18) have appeared in more national women’s championships than Jones, who is a six-time winner.
Winnipeg’s Jones scored deuces in four of his first six games and locked up a win with another pair in Sunday’s eighth game against Ackland in Winnipeg.
Three-time Hearts winner Rachel Homan earned her spot in Ontario at this year’s women’s championships February 17-25 in Kamloops, BC, with a 9-2 victory over Hollie Duncan.
In Sunday’s other provincial final, Krista McCarville beat Krysta Burns 9-4 to claim Northern Ontario, Robyn Silvernagle doubled Nancy Martin 8-4 in Saskatchewan, Stacie Curtis edged Heather Strong 11-8 in Newfoundland and Labrador, and Christina Black beat Tanya Hilliard 9 -4 in Nova Scotia.
Say hello to Team Northern Ontario! Happy @TeamMcCarville. See you in Kamloops at #STOH2023 pic.twitter.com/6GQvGWzP6q
Jones, Homan, Silvernagle, McCarville, Curtis and Black are joined by Kayla Skrlik (Alberta), Suzanne Birt (Prince Edward Island), Clancy Grandy (BC), Laurie St-Georges (Quebec), Andrea Kelly (New Brunswick), Kerry Galusha (Northwest Conference), Hailey Birnie (Yukon), Brigitte MacPhail (Nunavut) and defending champion Kerri Einarson of Gimli, Man., in the 18-team Hearts course.
Three wild card entries will come from Curling Canada’s Canadian Team Ranking System (CTRS) from the top three teams who did not qualify.
Jones’ former deputy Kaitlyn Lawes, Alberta’s Casey Scheidegger and Ackland were the top three non-qualifiers in Sunday’s CTRS rankings.
The winner of Hearts will represent Canada at the world championships March 18-26 in Sandviken, Sweden.
