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Even after scoring four in the first end, Manitoba’s Kaitlyn Lawes was braced for a thrilling back-and-forth game with Canada’s Kerri Einarson in the 1/2 Page playoff game at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
It never materialized.
Lawes beat Einarson 10-2 in eight ends on Saturday night to advance to the final of the Canadian women’s curling championship in Mississauga, Ont. Einarson will meet Alberta’s Selena Sturmay in the tournament’s semifinal on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET, with the winner of that game taking on Lawes for the title at 7 p.m.
“You always expect to have a really close game against Kerri’s team,” said Lawes outside the dressing room at Paramount Fine Foods Centre. “We expected it to go 10, 11 ends, and we feel like we were prepared for that mentally.
“You never know, even if you get a lead early, we’ve given up leads before, so we knew we had to play a patient game and just hang in there.”
Einarson or Rachel Homan have been finalists at the Tournament of Hearts final each of the past nine years. Homan, the reigning national champion, is missing this year’s event because she’s representing Canada at the Milan Cortina Olympics.
It’s Lawes’s first Tournament of Hearts final since she won the 2015 title as the third on Jennifer Jones’s Manitoba rink.
“Scotties is tough. It’s always been tough for the entirety of the bonspiel,” said Lawes, who earned her 100th Scotties win on Saturday. “It’s the best curling in Canada, the top teams are here.
“We’re really, really, just thrilled to have this opportunity.”
Lawes jumped out to an early lead in the first end when she scored a quad. Although Einarson answered with a single in the second, Lawes kept racking up the points with a deuce in the third and a single in the fourth.
Missed opportunities
It looked like Einarson might chip away at Lawes’s considerable lead in the fifth end but her takeout stone rolled further than its target, giving Lawes another point for an 8-1 lead. Einarson missed an angle-raise takeout in the sixth, extending Lawes’s lead to eight points.
Einarson gave a sardonic fist pump as she slid down the ice after getting a single in the seventh, to the delight of the 3,809 fans in attendance. The two sides shook hands after Lawes had a single in the eighth end.
“We’ve been in this position before, and we’ve done this a lot, so we’re just going to come out strong tomorrow,” said Einarson. “Put this one behind us and focus on one game at a time.”
Earlier Saturday, Sturmay beat Nova Scotia’s Christina Black 8-4 in the Page 3/4 playoff game. Sturmay said she needed time to process the victory, even as she knew she had to start preparing to face either Einarson or Lawes.
“Honestly, it hasn’t really sunk in yet that we’re in the semifinal,” said Sturmay minutes after her win over Black. “But we’re ready to keep fighting and keep playing well and see where that goes.”
Black has had an impressive 13 months, placing third at last year’s Tournament Hearts after losing to Einarson 9-8 in the semifinal. She then lost to Homan in the best-of-three final at this year’s Olympic curling trials.
“I wanted to win this thing. Definitely wanted to get on the podium and get a little further than last year, but I’m still really proud,” said Black.
“We played really well all week and had a great season. It’s been a long week and a great two years together of battling and just accomplishing so much.
“I’m really proud of us, but I’m a little heartbroken.”
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