REGINA -- Manitoba’s Jennifer Jones will play Alberta’s Shannon Kleibrink for a Canadian women’s curling championship on Sunday.
Jones advanced to Sunday’s Scotties Tournament of Hearts final by stealing a 9-8 extra-end win over Ontario’s Sherry Middaugh.
“We made it as good as I could on my last one and made her make a double and she just missed,” said Jones.
Middaugh needed a nose-hit double with the last rock of the 11th end to spill two Manitoba counters and leave her shooter counting as the game-winning point.
But the rock didn’t curl enough and a lone Manitoba counter biting the button, which Jones had tapped up just one rock earlier, was the difference in the game.
It was a painful loss for Middaugh, who has now been to four semi-finals and has lost every one of them.
“It’s unfortunate. We put a lot of work into this game this year and it was just a matter of inches and it could’ve been going to the final and who knows what would have happened,” said Middaugh.
Manitoba, who was 3-4 at this event at midweek, has now won seven games in a row and will attempt on Sunday to become the first team since Kelley Law in 2000 to win a Canadian women’s championship through the tiebreakers.
Kleibrink, whose team will carry an 11-1 record into the final, said she’s not surprised to learn she’ll be playing Manitoba in the final. “If you would have asked uas at the beginning of the year if we were in the Scott final who we would play, we would have said Jennifer Jones,” Kleibrink said.
Third Amy Nixon was one of three Alberta curlers to be named after the semi-final as first-team all-stars. The other first team all-stars were Kleibrink, Alberta lead Chelsey Bell and Manitoba second Jill Officer.
The second team all-stars were Middaugh, Manitoba third Cathy Overton-Clapham, Canada second Sasha Carter and Manitoba lead Dawn Askin.
Also announced after the semi-final was that Prince Edward Island lead Stefanie Clark was named the winner of the Marj Mitchell Sportsmanship Award.
And the Joan Mead award, awarded annually for dedication to the sport of curling, was awarded posthumously to late CBC broadcaster, Don Wittman.
The award was accepted by Wittman’s son and daughter-in-law, David and Sharon Wittman.

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