THUNDER BAY – The hard work is about to begin for the three teams advancing out of Pool A into the Scotties Tournament of Hearts playoffs.
Defending champion Rachel Homan, Alberta’s Kayla Skrlik and British Columbia’s Corryn Brown have clinched spots in the next round and all three skips say their ready for what comes next.
Homan, who rolled through the round robin at 8-0, will take on the second-place finisher in Pool B for a spot in Friday night’s 1-2 Page Playoff play-in game.
Skrlik, the second seed out of Pool A, will play the Pool B winner, while Brown’s fate will be decided in Friday night’s 3-4 game against the loser of one of the two 1-2 winners.
Homan, who got an added boost on Thursday with the arrival in Thunder Bay of coach Jennifer Jones, a six-time Scotties Tournament of Hearts champion, who closed out the round robin with an 8-4 win over Alberta’s Selena Sturmay (4-4), said the finale was a chance to play on the middle sheets at Fort William Gardens and learn the ice a little better, something she said has been a challenge at times this week.
“It’s pretty straight out there. It can be a bit frustrating at times, but this is the ice conditions we have in this building (and we’re) just learning to love them as much as we can and learn them as best as we can, how we need to sweep them, how we need to approach shots and just try to stay in the moment with every rock,” the three-time Scotties champion said.
It’s always exciting to still be in the hunt when Friday rolls around each year, especially going in as the No. 1 seed, which comes with its own benefits as the field continues to narrow over the course of the weekend.
“Absolutely, knowing we have the rocks and hammer in our control is really comforting. But we have to play better than … tonight to make sure we’re in that final,” the 35-year-old Homan said.
Srklik, 27, led her team to a 6-2 record, wrapping up with a 7-4 win over Nunavut’s Julia Weagle, cementing the No. 2 seed in Pool A.
“It was really important. We knew it was going to be a playoff spot. We watched Corryn Brown finish her game in eight ends, so we knew we needed to win ours to be in contention for the 1-2 qualifier. We did it,” Skrlik said.
“It’s always a little bit close, so it went right down to almost the last rock (Third) Margot (Flemming) is a little bit sick, so it’s a win for Margot.”
Skrlik said her team, which also includes lead Geri-Lynn Ransay and second Ashton Skrlik, said the win has plenty of reverberations. Not only is a Scotties championship still in play, but so to are spots in the Olympic Pre-Trials, and possibly even the Olympic Trials themselves.
“To be in playoffs at the Scotties means a lot (just) to be in the playoffs at Scotties, but also a lot for our future next year going forward.”
Brown, in her first Scotties and seeking her first medal at the national women’s curling championship, said goal No. 1 for the week was making the playoffs.
They’re in.
“Obviously we’d liked to have been in the one or the two spot, but we’re really happy with how we played all round robin and we’re really excited to bring that momentum forward into playoffs,” Brown said, crediting the her team – third Erin Pincott, second Sarah Koltun and lead Samatha Fisher – for staying in the moment and not letting losses to Skrlik and Homan dampen their spirits.
She also credited Fisher’s play, her lead finishing with the highest scoring percentage of any lead in the field.
The playoffs begin on Friday at 1 p.m.
