PENTICTON, B.C. — Team Canada scored twice in both the eighth and ninth ends to down British Columbia 6-2 on Saturday during the opening draw of the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
Skip Michelle Englot and her Winnipeg rink are replacing defending champion Rachel Homan as Team Canada at the women’s national curling championship as Homan is representing Canada at the upcoming Olympics.
In other opening draw action, Casey Scheidegger’s Alberta rink scored one in the 10th end to edge Hollie Duncan of Ontario 6-5. Stacie Curtis of Newfoundland and Labrador scored three in the eighth and added a deuce in the ninth to beat Robyn MacPhee from Prince Edward Island 11-6. And, Quebec’s Emila E. Gagne routed Amie Shackleton of Nunavut 9-2 in eight ends.
The rest of the field plays its first games on Saturday night. The field features 16 teams and is divided into two eight-team pools.
The top four teams in each pool advance to the championship pool starting Feb. 1. The top four teams from that will advance to the Page playoffs.