It was a tough Saturday for the remaining Manitoba teams in contention for an Olympic berth at the Mixed Doubles Curling Trials in Portage la Prairie.
Jennifer Jones saw her Olympic chances disappear as Jones and her partner Mark Nichols were knocked out with a 5-4 loss to Jocelyn Peterman and Brett Gallant in the 3-vs-4 Page playoff game at Stride Place.
Peterman and Gallant scored a deuce in the first end and then stole a single point in each the second and third ends to build up an early four point lead. Jones and Nichols got the momentum back as they stole single points in three straight ends to tie up the game at four apiece. But with last rock in the eighth end Peterman made a raise for a single point to secure the victory.
“Obviously we’re hugely disappointed.” Jones said in a media release. “We came here to win, but I’m proud of how we played. Mark is a great teammate and I had a lot of fun.”
Peterman and Gallant advance to Saturday night’s semifinal where they will face the loser of Saturday afternoon’s 1-vs-2 Page playoff game between Winnipeg’s Kaitlyn Lawes/John Morris and Val Sweeting/Brad Gushue. The winner of the 1-vs-2 game goes directly to Sunday’s final.
RELATED: Second chance at Olympic berth for new teammates Reid Carruthers & Jill Officer
Earlier on Saturday the other two remaining teams with Manitoba curlers bowed out. Both the Jill Officer/Reid Carruthers team and the Chelsea Carey/Colin Hodgson squad were knocked out to close out the round of eight.
In do-or-die matches Jones/Nichols defeated Carey/Hodgson 9-7 and Peterman/Gallant beat Officer/Carruthers 8-5 to end their Olympic chances.
The gold medal final for the first ever Olympic mixed doubles berth is at 1:30 pm on Sunday.
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