We now know the six teams that have qualified for the 2024 Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Calgary. Among the six are four Manitoba teams as Kate Cameron, Jennifer Jones, and Kaitlyn Lawes of Winnipeg, along with Kerri Einarson of Gimli have all advanced.
Ironically, the Pool winners were not Manitoba based. Alberta’s Sheldon Sturmay, who is based out of Edmonton, won Pool A with a record of seven wins and one loss, while Ontario’s Rachel Homan, based out of Ottawa, were at eight wins and zero losses.
In Pool A, Sturmay and Manitoba’s Kerri Einarson (known as Team Canada as the defending champion) had identical records of seven wins and one loss, but Sturmay got first place because she beat Einarson 8-6 on Sunday. Then there was a five-way tie for third place at four wins and four losses. Manitoba’s Kaitlyn Lawes got by Saskatchewan, Quebec, British Columbia and Northern Ontario because she had the best last stone draw.
Lawes was thrilled to get into a playoff spot.
“It feels so good. We’ve been working really hard this year at the draw to the button, because we have been eliminated so many times with no tiebreakers. That was a huge priority for us. We knew we just had to keep hanging tough and see what happens at the end of the week. We did not really know how everything was going to fall. I’m just so proud of the girls for hanging in with me and playing a really tough, gritty game.”
In Pool B, Jones finished in second place at six wins and two losses. Cameron finished in third place at five wins and three losses, and got the tiebreaker over British Columbia’s Clancy Grandy because of a 7-4 win on Thursday night.
