Four down, two to go at Canadian women’s curling championship playoffs in Kamloops

KAMLOOPS, B.C. – Four of six playoff teams at the Canadian women's curling championship were decided with a five-way race for the remaining berths Thursday.

Defending champion Kerri Einarson, Northern Ontario's Krista McCarville, Manitoba's Jennifer Jones and Ontario's Rachel Homan advanced to Friday's six-team championship round at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Kamloops, B.C.

Quebec, Nova Scotia, B.C., Alberta and a wild-card team skipped by Kaitlyn Lawes were all in contention for the last two spots in the final draw of pool play Thursday evening.

Einarson is chasing a fourth straight national championship previously achieved only by Colleen Jones between 2001 and 2004.

Manitoba's Jennifer Jones, with six Canadian titles, could be the first woman to claim seven.

Sitting atop their respective pools, Einarson and McCarville get byes to Friday evening's championship-round finals, which will in turn seed the final four teams for Saturday's Page playoff.

The second and third seeds from each pool cross over to meet in elimination games earlier Friday.

The semifinal and final are Sunday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 23, 2023