THUNDER BAY — Saskatchewan’s Nancy Martin is still in the hunt for a playoff spot at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
Martin and her Saskatoon Nutana foursome of third Chaelynn Stewart, second Kadriana Lott and lead Colleen Ackerman battled to a 7-4 win over Nunavet’s Julia Weagle in the morning draw at the Canadian women’s curling championship, improving to 4-3 win a single game remaining in her round robin schedule.
Martin got off to a good start against Weagle, third Sadie Pinksen, second Leigh Gustafson and lead Alison Taylor, stealing a pair in the fourth end to take a 3-1 lead. Weagle got right back into it, though, picking up one in the fifth and stealing another in the sixth to tie the game 3-3.
The teams then exchanged single points the next two frames before Martin came up with the biggest end of the game, scoring three in the ninth to go ahead 7-4. From there, it was just a matter of running Weagle out of rocks in the final end, and Martin would do just that to secure the win.
Lott curled 89 per cent to lead Saskatchewan, while Ackerman hit 81 per cent and Stewart and Martin were each at 70 per cent.
Taylor led Nunavet at 88 per cent, Weagle threw 81 per cent, Pinkson 73 per cent and Gustafson 69 per cent.
The standings in Pool A after the most recent draw are as follows:
Canada (Homan) 6-0
Alberta (Skrlik) 4-2
B.C. (Brown) 4-2
Alberta (Sturmay) 4-2
Saskatchewan (Martin) 4-3
Northern Ontario (McCarvile) 3-4
New Brunswick (Adams) 2-4
P.E.I. (DiCarlo) 1-5
Nunavut (Weagle) 0-6
Martin will have the afternoon draw off before taking the ice in her final round robin game against Sturmay at 6 p.m. The contest will be a must win for Team Sask, after which they’ll have Thursday off and will play the waiting game as the final three draws play out.
The top three teams from each pool will advance to the Page Playoffs, with the first two playoff games on Friday at 12 p.m. and 6 p.m. The Page 3-4 game takes place Saturday at 1 p.m., with the winner advancing to the semifinal, while the 1-2 game will be played at 6 p.m., with the winner advancing to the final and loser to the semifinal.
The semifinal is set for 1 p.m. Sunday, followed by the Scotties championship final at 6 p.m.
Be sure to keep an eye on www.curling.ca for updates throughout the week, and catch the action from each draw on TSN.
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