WINNIPEG – For the first time since 2004, Jennifer Jones will not win a provincial women’s curling championship she’s competed for.
The Olympic gold medalist was eliminated from the Manitoba Scotties Tournament of Hearts with an 8-6 loss to Darcy Robertson in Sunday’s semifinal at Eric Coy Arena. With the win, Robertson advances to face Michelle Englot in the provincial final.
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Robertson scored deuces in the first, third and ninth ends. The three-time Manitoba champion also stole a single in the sixth after putting up a point in the fifth frame.
Jones had a single in the second, deuces in both the fourth and seventh ends as well as a steal of one in the eighth. Jones ran out of rocks in the tenth after her draw on her first skip stone came up short of the house.
Jones entered this year’s Manitoba Scotties as the top seed. She cruised through the round-robin by winning all seven of her games. The seven-time provincial champ was knocked over to the semifinal after losing 9-5 to Englot in Saturday’s 1-vs-1 page playoff.
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Robertson reached the playoffs by beating defending champion Kerri Einarson 12-3 in a tiebreaker. The fifth ranked skip later squeaked past Shannon Birchard 7-3 in the 2-vs-2 game.
The provincial final is set for 3 p.m. Sunday afternoon. The winner will represent Manitoba at the national Scotties Tournament of Hearts in St. Catherines, Ont. next month.