Kerri Einarson Is Back on Top of Canadian Women’s Curling
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By Noan Gagnon
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Summary:
- Kerri Einarson defeated Kaitlyn Lawes 4-3 in 11 ends, grabbing her fifth Scotties Tournament of Hearts title in her career.
- The final was decided when Lawes missed a takeout with the hammer, which left Einarson’s rock on the button.
- Alberta’s Selena Sturmay earned her first Scotties bronze after losing to Einarson in the semifinal.
It was a special Sunday night for Kerri Einarson who claimed her fifth Scotties Tournament of Hearts title after edging Kaitlyn Lawes 4-3 in an 11-end final at the Paramount Fine Foods Centre.
The game came down to the final shot, when the Manitoba skip was unable to remove Einarson’s lone rock sitting on the button despite having the hammer.
First Scotties Title Since 2023
The victory marked Einarson’s first Scotties win since 2023 and a fresh chapter in a decade-long run of dominance at the event. For the past 10 years, the final has featured either Einarson or Rachel Homan.
Homan, last year’s champion, was not in the field this time as she is representing Canada at the Milan Cortina Olympics, where Canada opens against Denmark on Feb. 12.
For Lawes, the loss marked her first appearance in a Scotties final since 2015, when she won playing third for Jennifer Jones. Her team showed plenty of fight, but a few early missteps proved costly.
Building Pressure
In the second end, Lawes came up light with her final stone, giving Einarson a simple steal to open the scoring. Another error followed in the fourth, when a short-angle runback failed to roll far enough, handing Einarson a second steal and a 2-0 lead.
Lawes responded in the sixth after Einarson missed a takeout with her last stone, sending it through the house and allowing an easy draw for two to tie the game. Manitoba grabbed its first lead in the seventh, thanks to a double takeout attempt by Einarson that almost worked but left one Lawes stone clinging to the red ring.
After two blank ends, the pressure ramped up. Lawes loaded the house with four stones, but Einarson answered by raising her own rock to force an extra end. That set the stage for the final shot drama.
Earlier in the day, Einarson punched her ticket to the final with a convincing 12-5 semifinal win over Alberta’s Selena Sturmay. It was a rebound effort after Lawes had dominated Einarson 10-2 in Saturday’s 1/2 Page playoff.
Einarson joked between the two draws,
We definitely don’t do things the easy way on this team. We’ve been through the semifinal the majority of the time, I think. It’s nice to get our feet under us and get used to the ice instead of sitting around all day.
Sturmay who is seven months pregnant had to settle for bronze, her first Scotties podium finish, and took plenty of positives from the week.
I’m just really proud of the girls for showing up all week. You don’t come to this event to lose and I just want to say thank you to the girls for playing as well as they did.
