Team Canada qualifies for championship round at 2023 Scotties Tournament of Hearts

Kerri Einarson (Allthegoldmedals, Wikimedia Commons)

Team Canada’s Kerri Einarson of Gimli, Manitoba is the first skip to qualify for the championship round of the 2023 Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Kamloops, British Columbia. On Tuesday, Canada defeated Saskatchewan’s Robyn Silvernagle 10-3 tito improve her record to six wins and zero losses.

In a convincing and dominating performance, the Einarson team was extremely efficient with the hammer. After a first end blank, the Einarson team scored four points in the second end, three points in the fourth end, and two points in the sixth end.

Wednesday is an off day for the Einarson team. She will then play two more games on Thursday. Her morning opponent will be Alberta’s Kayla Skrlik, and her evening opponent will be Nunavut’s Brigitte MacPhail.

Speaking of Skrlik, it has been an excellent bounce back tournament for the Calgarian. After losing her first two matches, she has won her last three games. Skrlik’s Team Alberta squad won her only game on Wednesday by a score of 10-7 over Prince Edward Island’s Marie Christianson. It should be noted that Skrlik’s problem in the early going was team defense. She had a 5-2 lead against Team Wildcard One’s Kaitlyn Lawes squad from Winnipeg on Friday, but lost 8-5. Then on Saturday, Skrlik had a 5-1 lead over Silvernagle, but lost 11-9 in 11 ends.

In addition to Einarson and Skrlik, there are seven more teams above .500. In Pool A, Nova Scotia’s Christina Black is 4-2, while Lawes, Quebec’s Laurie St-Georges and British Columbia’s Clancy Grandy are 3-2. In Pool B, Northern Ontario’s Krista McCarville and Manitoba’s Jennifer Jones are both 5-1, and Ontario’s Rachel Homan is 3-2.

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