Jennifer Jones returns to Canadian women's curling championship in Manitoba colours

Jones wins Manitoba Scotties Jennifer Jones' all-star rink defeated hometown favourite Abby Ackland 10-5.

WINNIPEG — Jennifer Jones will skip a team at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts for the 17th time in her career after beating Abby Ackland 10-5 to win Manitoba's women's curling championship Sunday.

Only Colleen Jones (21) and her vice Kim Kelly (18) have appeared in more national women's championships than Jones, who is a six-time winner.

Jones scored deuces in four of the first six ends and iced the victory with another pair in the eighth end Sunday against Ackland.

Three-time Hearts winner Rachel Homan earned Ontario's berth at this year's women's championship Feb. 17-25 in Kamloops, B.C., with a 9-2 rout of Hollie Duncan.

In other provincial finals Sunday, Krista McCarville downed Krysta Burns 9-4 to take Northern Ontario, Robyn Silvernagle doubled Nancy Martin 8-4 in Saskatchewan and Stacie Curtis outscored Heather Strong 11-8 in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Christina Black looked to close out Nova Scotia on Sunday evening against Tanya Hilliard. A Hilliard victory would force a rematch Monday.

Jones, Homan, Silvernagle, McCarville and Curtis joined Suzanne Birt (Prince Edward Island), Clancy Grandy (B.C.), Laurie St-Georges (Quebec), Andrea Kelly (New Brunswick), Kerry Galusha (Northwest Territories), Hailey Birnie (Yukon), Brigitte MacPhail (Nunavut) and defending champion Kerri Einarson of Gimli, Man., in the 18-team Hearts field.

Three wild-card teams will come from Curling Canada's Canadian Team Ranking System (CTRS) of the top three non-qualified teams.

Jones' former vice Kaitlyn Lawes, Alberta's Casey Scheidegger and Ackland were the top three non-qualified teams in Sunday's CTRS rankings.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 29, 2023.