THUNDER BAY -- Team Saskatchewan has seen their run at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts come to an end.
Nancy Martin and her Saskatoon Nutana rink of third Chaelynn Stewart, second Kadriana Lott and lead Deanna Doig defeated Alberta’s Selena Sturmay 9-8 in their final round robin game on Wednesday night, and while the standings could work out in her favour, the tiebreakers don't, and as a result the playoffs are out of reach.
Martin capped her preliminary round with a 5-3 record and currently sits in fourth place in her round robin pool, with the top three teams advancing to the playoff round. Canada’s Rachel Homan is 7-0 and has locked down her playoff spot, while B.C.’s Corryn Brown and Alberta’s Kayla Skrlik are 5-2 and will finish second and third in Pool A
Saskatchewan’s match-up with Sturmay was as back-and-forth as could be.
The teams traded singles the first two ends, followed by three-enders after that, and a Martin deuce in the sixth end would give her a 6-5 lead. The teams then exchanged single points in the seventh and eighth before Sturmay went ahead 8-7 with a deuce in the eighth.
Things worked out as well as Martin could have asked in the 10th, and when Sturmay just missed a long double with her final shot, the veteran skip had a wide-open draw for two and the win, and she’d grab a piece of the button.
Full Pool A standings heading into the final day of the round robin are as follows:
Rachel Homan (Canada) 7-0
Kayla Skrlik (Alberta) 5-2
Corryn Brown (B.C) 5-2
Nancy Martin (Saskatchewan) 5-3
Selena Sturmay (Alberta) 4-3
Krista McCarville (Northern Ontario) 3-4
Melissa Adams (New Brunswick) 2-5
Jane DiCarlo (P.E.I.) 1-6
Julia Weagle (Nunavut) 0-7
The top three teams from each pool will advance to the Page Playoffs, with the first two playoff game on Friday at 12 p.m. and 6 p.m. The Page 3-4 game takes place Saturday at 1 p.m., with the winner advancing to the semifinal, while the 1-2 game will be played at 6 p.m., with the winner advancing to the final and loser to the semifinal.
The semifinal is set for 1 p.m. Sunday, followed by the Scotties championship final at 6 p.m.
Be sure to keep an eye on www.curling.ca for updates throughout the week, and catch the action from each draw on TSN.
