Team Canada skip Kerri Einarson delivers a rock while playing Northern Ontario during the semifinal at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Kamloops, B.C., on Sunday, February 26, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
KAMLOOPS – Kerri Einarson’s curling team won a fourth straight Canadian women’s curling championship with a 10-4 win over Manitoba’s Jennifer Jones in Sunday’s final.
Einarson, third Val Sweeting, second Shannon Birchard and lead Briane Harris became just the second team to win four consecutive Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
“Oh my god, it means so much,” Einarson said. “I think this one is even better than our first. It never gets old.”
Colleen Jones’ foursome won four in a row from 2001 to 2004.
“So much grit, determination, this team never gives up,” Einarson said. “That’s what makes us who we are.
“We just go out there and enjoy every single minute, have some fun and that’s when we really shine.”
Einarson will represent Canada in the women’s world championship March 18-26 in Sandviken, Sweden.
Einarson stole two points in the fifth end for a 4-2 lead.
When Jones missed her attempted raise in the ninth end, Einarson made an open hit to score four, and Jones shook hands.
Manitoba had hammer to start the game because of earning the higher playoff seeding
After holding each other to single points in the opening four ends, Einarson stole two points in the fifth for a 4-2 lead.
With two Einarson stones at the top of the eight-foot rings covering the button, Jones had to throw more to the wings and her draw came up light.
“If I could throw one again, that would be it,” Jones said.
The two sides again traded single points until the ninth.
The defending champions beat Northern Ontario’s Krista McCarville 7-5 in the afternoon semifinal to get to the championship game.
Harris, who is pregnant and due in June, was a sweeping workhorse Sunday in back-to-back wins for Einarson.
“She’s just determined. She pushes through anything,” Einarson said. “She doesn’t ever complain.”
Einarson and company return to the 2024 Tournament of Hearts in Calgary wearing the Maple Leaf again as Team Canada, with a chance at a record fifth consecutive title.
They also pocket $108,000 from a prize purse of $300,000 and are eligible for Sport Canada “carding'” money as part of Curling Canada’s national-team program.
Einarson won the first of four Canadian crowns in 2020 in Moose Jaw, Sask.
Less than a month later, the world championship was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Einarson placed sixth in the 2021 world championship in Calgary’s bubble.
Her foursome won the bronze medal last year in Prince George, B.C.
Einarson said earlier in the tournament in Kamloops she felt her team had unfinished business at the world championship.
Jones fell a win short of a record seventh Canadian championship.
The 46-year-old skip had taken over a young team of curlers under the age of 25, who played in their first Hearts final Sunday.
“I’m just disappointed we didn’t come out and put our A game together, but all in all, pretty happy with the week,” Jones said.
Einarson, Sweeting and Birchard were selected first team all-stars at their position with Northern Ontario’s Sarah Potts chosen at lead.
Ontario skip Rachel Homan, Wild card third Laura Walker, Ontario second Emma Miskew and Harris comprised the second all-star team.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 26, 2023.
