Lawes into Grand Slam Tour Challenge Final
Kaitlyn Lawes (photo: Anil Mungal, GSOC) will play former teammate Jennifer Jones in an all-Winnipeg Final at the HearingLife Tour Challenge at the Gale Centre in Niagara Falls.
In Saturday evening's semifinals, Lawes with Selena Njegovan at third, Jocelyn Peterman at second and Kristin MacCuish at lead defeated Kerri Einarson of Gimli 6-4 and Jones defeated Sweden's Anna Hasselborg 7-5.
Einarson opened scoring with two in the first end, with the teams trading deuces through the fourth end to be tied at four at the halfway point. Lawes was held to a single point in the sixth end, then following a blank in the seventh end, stole a single point up 1 without hammer in the last end.
Lawes improved to 3-4 when 1 without hammer in the last end over the last two seasons, the win their first this season against one previous loss. Lawes improved to 14-8 on the season with the win, while Jones improved to 17-10 with the win over Hasselborg.
Jones fell behind early, giving up a single point to Hasselborg in the first end, then single point steals in the second and third ends. After a blank in the fourth end, Jones and her teams of Karlee Burgess, Emily Zacharias and Lauren Lenentine scored three in the fifth end, then stole three more in the sixth end to lead 6-3. Hasselborg got two back in the seventh end, but Jones finished that game off with a single point for for the win.
Lawes and Jones are 2-2 in 4 career head to head meetings since the pair split at the end of the 2022 Olympic cycle, with Jones winning twice last season, 8-1 at the Co-op Canadian Ope in January, then again at the Manitoba Scotties later that month. Lawes has won twice this season, both at the Players' Open in Dundas where Lawes won 7-5 in round-robin play, then won 5-4 in a tiebreaker game.
Lawes has a career record of 22 wins and 16 losses in 7 appearances at the HearingLife Tour Challenge Tier 1, while Jones has a career record of 20 wins and 17 losses in 7 appearances at the HearingLife Tour Challenge Tier 1. Neither skip has won the Grand Slam Tour Challenge title.
In the quarterfinals, Lawes defeated Eun ji Gim (Uijeongbu, KOR) 7-4, while Einarson defeated Stefania Constantini (Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA) 7-4, Jones defeated Silvana Tirinzoni (Aarau, SUI) 7-4, and Hasselborg defeated Rebecca Morrison (Stirling, SCO) 8-5
Jones finished 2-2 in the preliminary round, advancing to the playoffs on shootout scores. In their opening game, Jones defeated Seungyoun Ha (Chuncheon, KOR) 6-5, then went on to lose 6-4 against Rachel Homan (Ottawa, ON). Jones responded with a 6-2 win over Kate Cameron (Winnipeg, MB) and then lost 7-5 to Hasselborg in their final qualifying round match.
Lawes finished 2-2 in the preliminary round, also reaching the playoffs on their shootout scores. In their opening game, Lawes lost 8-7, droppimg another game, 8-2 to Satsuki Fujisawa (Kitami, JPN) where Lawes responded with a 6-3 win over Tabitha Peterson (St. Paul, MN). Lawes won 8-6 against Marianne Roervik (Lillehammer, NOR) in their final qualifying round match.
The game will be available on Sportsnet starting at 10:30 am Eastern Time (9:30 am Central Time).
In Saturday evening's semifinals, Lawes with Selena Njegovan at third, Jocelyn Peterman at second and Kristin MacCuish at lead defeated Kerri Einarson of Gimli 6-4 and Jones defeated Sweden's Anna Hasselborg 7-5.
Einarson opened scoring with two in the first end, with the teams trading deuces through the fourth end to be tied at four at the halfway point. Lawes was held to a single point in the sixth end, then following a blank in the seventh end, stole a single point up 1 without hammer in the last end.
Lawes improved to 3-4 when 1 without hammer in the last end over the last two seasons, the win their first this season against one previous loss. Lawes improved to 14-8 on the season with the win, while Jones improved to 17-10 with the win over Hasselborg.
Jones fell behind early, giving up a single point to Hasselborg in the first end, then single point steals in the second and third ends. After a blank in the fourth end, Jones and her teams of Karlee Burgess, Emily Zacharias and Lauren Lenentine scored three in the fifth end, then stole three more in the sixth end to lead 6-3. Hasselborg got two back in the seventh end, but Jones finished that game off with a single point for for the win.
Lawes and Jones are 2-2 in 4 career head to head meetings since the pair split at the end of the 2022 Olympic cycle, with Jones winning twice last season, 8-1 at the Co-op Canadian Ope in January, then again at the Manitoba Scotties later that month. Lawes has won twice this season, both at the Players' Open in Dundas where Lawes won 7-5 in round-robin play, then won 5-4 in a tiebreaker game.
Lawes has a career record of 22 wins and 16 losses in 7 appearances at the HearingLife Tour Challenge Tier 1, while Jones has a career record of 20 wins and 17 losses in 7 appearances at the HearingLife Tour Challenge Tier 1. Neither skip has won the Grand Slam Tour Challenge title.
In the quarterfinals, Lawes defeated Eun ji Gim (Uijeongbu, KOR) 7-4, while Einarson defeated Stefania Constantini (Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA) 7-4, Jones defeated Silvana Tirinzoni (Aarau, SUI) 7-4, and Hasselborg defeated Rebecca Morrison (Stirling, SCO) 8-5
Jones finished 2-2 in the preliminary round, advancing to the playoffs on shootout scores. In their opening game, Jones defeated Seungyoun Ha (Chuncheon, KOR) 6-5, then went on to lose 6-4 against Rachel Homan (Ottawa, ON). Jones responded with a 6-2 win over Kate Cameron (Winnipeg, MB) and then lost 7-5 to Hasselborg in their final qualifying round match.
Lawes finished 2-2 in the preliminary round, also reaching the playoffs on their shootout scores. In their opening game, Lawes lost 8-7, droppimg another game, 8-2 to Satsuki Fujisawa (Kitami, JPN) where Lawes responded with a 6-3 win over Tabitha Peterson (St. Paul, MN). Lawes won 8-6 against Marianne Roervik (Lillehammer, NOR) in their final qualifying round match.
The game will be available on Sportsnet starting at 10:30 am Eastern Time (9:30 am Central Time).