Skip Tracy Fleury came out of COVID-19 isolation and threw a last-rock takeout for a big victory on Thursday.
The play lifted Fleury’s Wild Card 1 team from Manitoba to an 8-6 win over Northern Ontario’s Krista McCarville to lock up first place in Pool A at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Thunder Bay, Ont.
Fleury was forced to isolate after testing positive for COVID before the tournament. Third Selena Njegovan took over the skipping duties for the team that leads both the Canadian and world rankings.
“I was a little worried heading in,” she said. “Once you get the feel of a couple of draws you get your confidence and then it’s a non-issue. It just kind of feels natural.”
Fleury’s win on the final day of round-robin play at the Canadian women’s curling championship improved her team’s record to 7-1. She leapfrogged over Andrea Crawford of New Brunswick, who dropped to 6-2 after a 10-3 loss to Chelsea Carey’s Wild Card 2 from Saskatchewan.
Playing in a tight game where she was forced to make shots helped set the skip up for the playoffs.
“It’s always good to experience a close game and get some practice with nerves and decision making under pressure,” Fleury said. “It helps it was a tight battle out there.”
‘We like to take the hard road’
Crawford finished second in the standings followed by McCarville. Fleury won’t play again until Friday night.
A win would have given McCarville first place and a bye in the first round of the playoffs. She had beaten Crawford during the round robin.
“We like to take the hard road,” McCarville said with a laugh. “Obviously we wanted to get first place but we do feel successful. We are in the playoffs and we’re starting our next goal. We just have to keep it rolling form here.”
In a game she had to win to keep her playoff hopes alive, Saskatchewan’s Penny Barker was light on a last-rock draw and gave up a steal of three in the sixth end in a 10-2 loss to Emma Miskew’s Wild Card 3.
Miskew, who is skipping Rachel Homan’s rink while Homan competes in mixed doubles at the Beijing Winter Olympics, was eliminated from playoff contention Wednesday.
Fleury topped the Pool A standings at 7-1 followed by New Brunswick (6-2) and Northern Ontario (5-3). Saskatchewan, P.E.I., Wild Card 2 and Wild Card 3 all finished 4-4. Newfoundland and Labrador was 2-6 and Nunavut 0-8.
Manitoba’s Mackenzie Zacharias and Christina Black both notched wins during the morning draw. Zacharias defeated Laura Walker of Alberta 10-7 while Black downed the Yukon 10-4.
In other games, the playoff hopes of Kerry Galusha of the N.W.T. took a hit with a 11-6 loss to B.C.’s Mary-Anne Arsenault while Hollie Duncan of Ontario beat Laurie-St-Georges of Quebec 9-4.
The field has been divided into two nine-team pools with the top three rinks from each pool advancing to an expanded playoff field. The second- and third-ranked teams in each pool crossover to play in Page playoff qualifier games. The winners advance to play the winners of Pool A and Pool B.
The final is set to take place on Feb. 6.
The Scotties champion will represent Canada at the 2022 Women’s Curling Championship in Prince George, B.C., from March 19-27.
Due to COVID-19 concerns the Scotties are being held in an empty Fort Williams Gardens without fans or media in the building. Curling Canada plans to allow about 348 volunteers registered for the competition and another 37 junior curlers from the area to attend the playoffs beginning Friday.
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