Penny Barker and Skylar Ackerman are still in the hunt at the Viterra Scotties women’s provincial curling championship in Estevan.
Both rinks find themselves in the ‘C’ side final after stringing together wins on Friday, with a victory during the 3 p.m. draw sending the Moose Jaw skips into the Page Playoffs beginning Saturday night.
For defending champion Barker and her Moose Jaw Curling Centre rink of third Christie Gamble, second Jenna Enge and lead Danielle Sicinski, it was a matter of picking up back-to-back wins after losing their first two contests.
Barker took an 8-5 victory over Regina’s Ashley Howard in the ‘C’ quarter-final before running into a familiar face in her next contest in Regina’s Cindy Ricci. Barker booked her spot in the qualifying game with a 9-3 victory over the former Hillcrest Sports Centre skip, keeping her chances of repeating as provincial champion alive.
Ricci had lost her first two contests before defeating fellow Moose Javian and former teammate Amber Holland 6-5 in the ‘C’ quarter-final.
Ackerman, who plays out of the Saskatoon Sutherland alongside third Kya Kennedy, second Taylor Stremick and lead Kaylin Skinner, rebounded nicely after their 10-5 loss to Regina’s Brooklyn Stevenson in her lone ‘B’ side contest on Friday afternoon.
Facing former provincial champion Lorraine Schneider, Ackerman built a 6-1 lead heading into the fifth-end break and would go on to an 11-3 victory to earn her spot in the playoff qualifier.
Barker will take on Saskatoon’s Sherry Anderson in her ‘C’ final, while Ackerman will look to get a measure of revenge when she faces Stevenson. Both games are at 3 p.m.
Should both Barker and Ackerman win, they’ll be on the ice against each other at 7:30 p.m. in the Page Playoff 3-4 game. A pair of former champions face off in the Page 1-2 game, with ‘A’ side winner Nancy Martin taking on ‘B’ qualifier Robin Silvernagle.
The winner of the 1-2 advances directly to Sunday’s final, while the loser will face the winner of the 3-4 game in the semifinal at 10 a.m. on Sunday.
The 2023 Viterra Scotties championship game takes place at 3 p.m. on Sunday.
