Nova Scotia’s Team Christina Black secured a spot in the Page 3-4 playoff game at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts for the second straight year by defeating Team Taylour Stevens 11-6. Alberta’s Selena Sturmay earned her place with a 10-4 victory over Manitoba’s Beth Peterson. The two teams will clash on Saturday, with the winner advancing to Sunday’s semifinal.
In Mississauga, Ont., the Scotties Tournament of Hearts playoff qualifiers unfolded with dramatic moments on Friday. Nova Scotia’s Team Christina Black, representing the Halifax Club, dominated their provincial rival, Team Taylour Stevens, in the Page 3-4 qualifier.
Black jumped to a 4-0 lead in the first end after Stevens missed, leaving an open draw. In the second end, Stevens had a chance for five points but overthrew, jamming her own rock and allowing Black a steal of one to extend the lead to 5-0. The third end brought tension when Stevens’ second, Alison Umlah, fell and hit her face on the stone during a shot, burning the rock and complicating their final throw. Despite the mishap, Stevens executed an angled-runback double to score two and trail 5-2.
Black responded with a deuce in the fourth end and a steal of two in the fifth, cruising to an 11-6 win.
Meanwhile, Alberta’s Selena Sturmay avenged a Thursday round-robin loss to Manitoba’s Beth Peterson, who had clinched first in Pool B. The teams exchanged deuces in the first two ends, but Peterson faltered in the third and fourth, conceding steals of three each time to fall behind 8-2. Sturmay’s team maintained control for the 10-4 victory.
Earlier, Manitoba’s Kaitlyn Lawes and Canada’s Kerri Einarson won their Page 1-2 qualifiers to set up a Saturday matchup, with the victor heading to Sunday’s final. The Page 3-4 winner—Sturmay or Black—will face the Einarson-Lawes loser in the semifinal. The tournament’s champion will represent Canada at the world women’s curling championship in Calgary in March.
