By Matthew Abrey
Special to the Penticton Western News
Tournament favourites Jennifer Jones and Team Manitoba remained perfect Sunday at the 2018 Scotties Tournament of Hearts, with a staggering 14-1 victory over Jody Smallwood and her Yukon Territory rink.
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“It’s nice” said Jones after the win. “I mean it feels good to go out there and make a lot of your shots and it gives you some confidence, but we’re focusing on making our shots precise and exact, and even when you have a big lead you still want to do that so that you can gain something moving forward.”
Jones came flying out of the gate, going ahead 6-0 after the first two ends, and held an 8-0 lead going into the fifth, when Smallwood managed to draw to the button to capture her rink’s one and only point of the match, sending the Penticton crowd into a roaring show of support.
Related: Opening day at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts
However Jones bounced right back in a big way, capturing an incredible six points in the sixth end to push her rink’s lead to 14-1.
Curling Canada officials then decided to use the match umpire’s discretion, and called an end to the game after the sixth end, making an exception to the Scotties tournament rule that all matches must be at least eight ends in length.
On sheet A, Team Saskatchewan and skip Karlee Korchinski took advantage of the very pro-Saskatchewan crowd, to the tune of an 8-4 victory against the Northwest Territories rink, evening their tournament record at 1-1.
Wild Card Team Einarson and her Winnipeg-based rink managed to take down Team Nova Scotia by a 7-5 score to remain perfect on sheet B, while Team New Brunswick prevented the Northern Ontario rink from getting their first win, by executing an 8-5 victory on sheet C.
Related: Eirnarson captures Wild Card berth
The fifth and final draw of the day will begin at 7 p.m., with a full eight teams in action.