Mary-Anne Arsenault claimed sole possession of first place in the Nova Scotia Scotties Tournament of Hearts round-robin standings Thursday.
Arsenault defeated Jill Brothers 7-5 in the morning taking the lead with a deuce in nine and capping things off with a single steal in the 10th end. The defending champion beat Emily Dwyer by a similar score during the evening draw to remain undefeated at 5-0 thanks to a three-ender in nine followed by a steal of one in the final frame.
Brothers bounced back to edge Julie McEvoy 7-6 and has a 4-1 record to sit tied for second place in the standings with Arsenault’s former teammate Colleen Jones.
The six-time Canadian champion Jones stole singles in final three ends to slip past Theresa Breen 8-7 but fell to Christie Gamble 8-2 to sustain her first loss of the tournament.
Breen picked up a 9-8 win over Colleen Pinkney to improve to a 3-2 record and sit in fourth place.
The top three teams qualify for the playoffs. Round-robin action resumes Friday in Halifax at noon AT.
QUEBEC
Defending champion Lauren Mann and six-time provincial winner Marie-France Larouche are tied at the top of the standings for the Quebec Scotties Tournament of Hearts with 4-2 records.
Larouche picked up a pair of wins Thursday defeating Camille Lapierre 10-4 and Roxane Perron 6-4.
Mann had a bye in the morning draw and earned an 8-1 rout over Lapierre in the evening.
Earlier Thursday, Perron beat Helene Pelchat 7-5.
Round-robin action resumes Friday in Valleyfield at 10 a.m. ET.
ONTARIO
Ottawa’s Rachel Homan has clinched the top spot for the page 1 vs. 2 playoff game at the Ontario Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Brampton.
The two-time Canadian champion climbed to a 7-0 record in the round-robin stage with an 8-4 victory over Toronto’s Cathy Auld during Thursday night’s draw.
Trailing 2-1 after four, Homan scored a deuce in the fifth, stole three in the sixth and held onto the lead from there as the teams matched singles through the seventh and eighth ends and again in the ninth and 10th.
Team Homan have been the top rink on tour this season winning a magnificent seven events including the Canada Cup and a record three consecutive Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling titles.
Homan captured back-to-back national Scotties championships in 2013 and 2014 to earn the Team Canada auto-berths, but a bronze-medal finish last year meant a return to provincials this season.
While Homan sits firmly in control at the top of the Ontario standings, Auld (4-3) is locked in a four-way bottleneck for second place with Ottawa’s Jenn Hanna, Jacqueline Harrison of Mississauga, and Julie Tippin of Woodstock.
Defending champion Julie Hastings of Thornhill and five-time Ontario winner Sherry Middaugh of Coldwater are also right behind with 3-4 records. Allison Flaxey of Caledon, Mallory Kean of Stoney Creek, and Ottawa’s Erin Morrissey all trail at 2-5.
Tippin took an 8-3 win over Kean, Hanna picked up a point in the final end to edge Middaugh 6-5, and Harrison scored four sets of deuces during a 9-5 victory over Morrissey.
Flaxey stole two points in the ninth for a 6-4 win over Hastings in the final Draw 7 match.
Two round-robin draws remain with action resuming Friday at 1 p.m. ET at the Brampton Curling Club (watch on Rogers TV Sports+).
NORTHERN ONTARIO
Krista McCarville edged Tracy Fleury of Sudbury 7-6 Thursday night to top the standings at the midway point of the Northern Ontario Scotties Tournament of Hearts round robin.
McCarville, from Thunder Bay, holds a 3-0 record while Fleury, the defending champion, sits in second at 2-1.
Meanwhile, Laura Payne (1-2) of North Bay earned a 12-5 win over Gale Wiseman (0-3) of Timmins. Payne trailed 5-0 after three but tied it with a five-ender in the fourth end and stole points in four consecutive ends including a four-spot in the seventh.
Earlier Thursday, McCarville defeated Wiseman 9-2 and Fleury scored three in the final end to top Payne 7-6.
Round-robin action continues Friday in Timmins at 2:30 p.m. ET.
MANITOBA
That’s more like it for Kerri Einarson.
The Winnipeg skip rolled out to a pair of big wins Thursday to improve to a 3-1 record at the Manitoba Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Beausejour.
Einarson, who has finished runner-up at the past two provincials, scored a 7-1 victory over Jennifer Rolles of Thompson and thumped Winnipeg’s Janet Harvey 8-1.
Five-time Canadian champion Cathy Overton-Clapham continues to lead the Extreme Force Red Group with a 4-0 record after day two. Overton-Clapham topped Lisa Menard of Dauphin 6-3 and Cheryl Reed of Brandon 9-3.
Darcy Robertson is tied with Einarson for second place in the division at 3-1. The Winnipeg native split her pair of games Thursday winning 10-6 over Reed before falling 7-5 to Menard.
Meanwhile, the Asham Black Group continues to see a logjam at the top of its standings with Shannon Birchard, Kristy McDonald and Michelle Montford all tied with 4-0 records.
Birchard beat Christine MacKay 8-3 in an all-Winnipeg rink match and slid past Terry Ursel of Neepawa 9-1.
McDonald, the 2014 provincial champion from Winnipeg, picked up an 8-3 win over Mackenzie Zacharias of Altona and a 9-5 victory against Kim Link of East St. Paul.
Montford, of Winnipeg, beat Link 8-4 and Zacharias 10-3.
Round-robin action continues Friday at 8:30 a.m. CT. Television coverage begins Saturday night on Sportsnet ONE at 6 p.m. CT.
ALBERTA
Edmonton’s Val Sweeting is off to the playoffs at the Jiffy Lube Alberta Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Calgary.
The double defending champion stole four points in the final end to secure an 8-3 victory over Calgary’s Chelsea Carey in the A qualifier to advance.
After giving up a steal in the first, Sweeting scored a deuce in the second to take the lead 2-1. The two teams alternated singles in the fourth and sixth ends and again through seven and eight as Sweeting maintained the one-point advantage heading into the final end.
Carey fell to the B-side of the triple knockout bracket and will now play Edmonton’s Jessie Kaufman, who stole a point in the extra end to win 6-5 over Kelsey Rocque, also of Edmonton.
Rocque, winner of the past two world junior championships, is playing in her first Alberta Scotties Tournament of Hearts and is now in a must-win situation in the C bracket.
The other B semifinal will see Casey Scheidegger of Lethbridge face 2006 Olympic bronze medallist Shannon Kleibrink of Coaldale.
Scheidegger defeated Edmonton’s Nicky Kaufman 7-5 while Kleibrink beat Deanne Nichol, also of Edmonton, 7-4.
The Jiffy Lube Alberta Scotties Tournament of Hearts continues Friday at 9 a.m. MT. Watch the semifinal and final live Sunday on Sportsnet ONE.
B.C.
Karla Thompson of Kamloops picked up a 7-6 extra end win over Victoria’s Sarah Wark on Thursday night to remain undefeated in the B.C. Scotties Tournament of Hearts round robin.
Thompson sits at the top of the standings with a 5-0 record. She also defeated Kesa Van Osch of Nanaimo 7-4 during the afternoon draw.
Two-time Canadian champion Kelly Scott is in second place with a 4-1 record. Scott, from Kelowna, lost 9-7 to Vancouver’s Amy Gibson and bounced back big time with a 7-1 win over Van Osch.
Defending champion Patti Knezevic has slid to a 1-4 record falling to Amanda Russett of Kamloops 9-5 and Diane Gushulak of New Westminster 7-2.
Gibson improved to a 2-3 record earning her second win of the day with a 9-5 victory over Russett.
Round-robin action continues Friday in Coquitlam at noon PT. Television coverage begins Sunday at 11 a.m. PT on Sportsnet Pacific.