Ackland upsets Einarson to open Scotties

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This article was published 29/01/2020 (2222 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

RIVERS — The first day of the 2020 Manitoba Scotties Tournament of Hearts provided plenty of interesting storylines and even included a major upset.

The fourth-ranked team in the world, Gimli’s Kerri Einarson, fell 6-5 in a nailbiter to Abby Ackland, which is being skipped by Hailey Ryan, on Wednesday.

The move to 12 teams from 16 teams at the women’s provincial curling championships at the Riverdale Community Centre provided a thriller during the second draw of the day. Einarson (0-1) and Ackland (1-0) traded singles in the early stages, with Ackland pulling ahead 3-2 in the fifth with two. Einarson scored a deuce of her own in the sixth to take the lead. After singles from both sides, the scores were level at 5-5 in the 10th. With the hammer, Einarson decided to go for a hit, instead of taking a draw for the win.

“The draws have been walking over so it’s been a little tight for the line to throw the draw,” Einarson said post-game. “I had more than I thought I did initially so I just didn’t get quite out there. I thought the hit felt close, I knew that spot but I just didn’t get quite out to the broom.”

Einarson credited the fine play of Ackland’s team out of Assiniboine.

“They played really great, they made some great shots when they needed and put lots of pressure on us, can’t take that away from them, they played really well,” she said. “It gets tight. You can’t really afford to lose games like that.”

• • •

In the first draw of the day, defending champion Tracy Fleury (2-0) out of East St. Paul found herself in a 4-1 hole early. She managed to claw her way back and escape the fate of getting upset, coming on top 8-4 over Fort Rouge’s Kristy Watling (1-1).

“I think early in the game the other team was making a ton of shots getting in their rocks in really good spots, putting pressure on us early,” Fleury said. “It took us a little bit of time to find our groove.”

Getting out of the deficit was a slow grind, as Fleury nabbed two in the fifth and sixth and finished the final three ends with singles, shutting the door on Watling.

“We knew it was early, we were down a few points but there was a lot of game left, we just wanted to chip away and not get it all back at once but climb our way back, which we did,” Fleury said.

When asked if it was any more fun to come in as the defending champion and have teams bring an extra gear against them, the skip of the second-ranked team in the world laughed.

“I think everyone here tries to bring their best against everyone,” Fleury said. “All the teams here are so strong and I think every team comes out here every game wanting to do well.”

• • •

The other mid-afternoon games, featuring Brandon’s Janelle Vachon (0-1) and Arden’s Terry Ursel (0-1), were both blowouts. Vachon gifted Assiniboine’s Darcy Robertson an 11-3 win, while Ursel dropped an 11-2 decision to six-time national champion Jennifer Jones of St. Vital (1-0).

Vachon jumped to a 2-0 lead, but Robertson nabbed a couple of singles to level the score at 2-2. Robertson was able to steal three points in the fourth end after Vachon failed to clear the house. It was the beginning of the end. Robertson stole away two more before getting four in the ninth to seal the deal.

It was a different case for Jones against Ursel, as Jones made it 4-1 early and kept the pressure up, nailing every one of her shots en route to a resounding win.

“It’s nice to get off to a good start, I thought we played well, we didn’t really give them a lot of chances,” Jones said. “I’m happy with the way we started but it’s a very long road ahead.”

Ursel, who is attending her 11th Scotties, said her team is still figuring out the arena ice, a surface they don’t play on a lot.

“The ice was great, we just had a little trouble getting used to all the curl and knowing when it’s going to break,” she said. “We’ll hopefully figure it out soon.”

Jones said it can be tough to make the transition to arena ice from playing at club rinks.

“I think it’s tough when you’re not used to it and it just curls and they did great, they played great, they made great shots out there,” she said.

Playing against competition like Jones is “awesome,” Ursel said.

“We’ll never get the chance, we don’t play them at bonspiels or anything, if we’re going to play them this is where it’s going to be,” Ursel said.

Ursel and Vachon are back in action today with Ursel taking on Einarson and Vachon playing Ackland at 9:30 a.m.

• • •

Theresa Cannon (1-1) staved off a comeback attempt from Miami’s Jennifer Clark-Rouire (0-2) in the morning draw, winning 8-7 with a perfect draw on the last shot of the game.

“Our front end is one of the best in the game so I had full faith that if I could just give it to them, that they could put it up,” said Cannon, who is in her first Scotties as a skip.

This is Cannon’s fifth provincials and said there’s a different pressure that comes with calling the shots.

“I think shots like (the final one) are different, although I’ve swept shots like that,” she said. “At the end of the day, it’s a team shot.”

Cannon’s third, Karen Klein, said getting a win in the first game is key with a reduced field of teams this year.

“You learn the ice, learn the speed and put yourself in a position to make playoffs,” she said.

With three of the top 10 ranked teams in the world in Rivers, the competition is fierce, but Klein isn’t letting the big names get to her.

“You just got to focus on the process, focus on yourself. Any sport psychologist will tell you ‘Don’t think about the result, you focus on the process’ and that’s what I’m a believer in,” she said. “In sport anybody can beat anybody on any given day, that’s what makes sport exciting, otherwise why would we show up?”

Assiniboine Memorial’s Beth Peterson (2-0) cruised to an 8-5 win over Jennifer Briscoe (0-2) of Burntwood in the third early game.

In the late draw, Watling beat Clark-Rouire 9-4, Fleury topped Briscoe 9-3 and Peterson thumped Cannon 11-2.

» rstelter@brandonsun.com

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