It’s well-known that the Home Hardware Canada Cup is difficult to get to for a curler.
But what does it take to win one of these things? Likely being able to play and win while still figuring the ice, as Jennifer Jones did in her 11-end 7-5 win over Chelsea Carey.
“I really struggled just with the ice,” said Jones. “Sometimes I thought I threw some really good ones and they just didn’t work out well. I’m happy with the W but we’ll definitely have to be a little bit better.”
Jones beat Rachel Homan in Brandon, Man., in 2016 at that city’s Canada Cup, which was the most recent version of this event played.
“That was not a very good game by me so the girls played good in front of me. We’ll just have to be a bit sharper tonight,” Jones said.
The tournament won’t be won today but it’s tough to get into the playoffs without it. You can never be sure you’re really in contention to win, according to a former champion.
“It’s not until the round robin is over,” said Reid Carruthers, who also won in Brandon. He defeated Brad Gushue in the final in 2016. “It’s very difficult to make it out of the round robin in this format. There’s seven of the top men’s teams and the women have an extra team. It’s very hard to get into this tournament, let alone win it, because of the strength of the field."
The afternoon draw was Carruthers’ first match of the event and even though it ended up being a loss, they’re still trying to figure out the ice. They lost 6-3 to John Epping.
“We were definitely a bit rusty early so for us, we just wanted to keep the game close early. They’d already played this morning and were comfortable with what the surface is like.”
In the other matches for Wedneday’s second draw, Rachel Homan defeated Kerri Einarson 6-5 in 11 ends, Casey Schiedegger defeated Laura Walker 6-3 and Brad Jacobs defeated Brad Gushue 8-4. .
Tonight’s evening draw starts at 7 p.m. and features Jennifer Jones against Darcy Robertson, Rachel Homan against Casey Schiedegger, Reid Carruthers against Brendan Botcher, Jamie Koe against Matt Dunstone and Kerri Einarson against Allison Flaxey.
