Team Saskatchewan off to 2-1 start at Scotties Tournament of Hearts

Saskatchewan skip Nancy Martin delivers a shot against Northern Ontario in Scotties Tournament of Hearts curling action in Thunder Bay, Ont. on Friday, February 14, 2025.

Nancy Martin and Team Saskatchewan are now set for a pair of games on Monday, including one against Rachel Homan and Team Canada

Published Feb 15, 2025 • Last updated 1 day ago • 3 minute read

Saskatchewan skip Nancy Martin delivers a shot against Northern Ontario in Scotties Tournament of Hearts curling action in Thunder Bay, Ont. on Friday, February 14, 2025. Photo by Frank Gunn /The Canadian Press

Nancy Martin and Team Saskatchewan are off to a strong start at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.

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At the national women’s curling championship in Thunder Bay, Ont., Martin and her Saskatoon Nutana Curling Club rink beat Northern Ontario’s Krista McCarville 10-6 in the opening draw on Friday night before improving to 2-0 with an 8-6 win over Jane DiCarlo and Team Prince Albert Island on Saturday night.

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In their lone game on Sunday, Team Saskatchewan then suffered its first loss with a 7-6 defeat against B.C.’s Corryn Brown (2-1).

Martin and Team Saskatchewan (2-1) will now get set for a pair of games Monday against New Brunswick’s Melissa Adams (2-1) and defending champion Rachel Homan and Team Canada (3-0). The top three teams in each pool make the playoff round following an eight-game round robin which concludes Thursday night.

In her first Scotties as a skip and second overall, Martin and Team Saskatchewan — also featuring third Chaelynn Stewart, second Kadriana Lott, lead Deanna Doig, alternate Colleen Ackerman and coach Sherry Anderson — got off to a strong start in the tournament’s opening draw.

On Friday night against the hometown Northern Ontario rink, Martin quieted the crowd early by scoring three points with the hammer in the second end to take an early lead.

McCarville scored a single in the third before the teams traded deuces in the fourth and fifth ends as Martin took a 5-3 lead into the break.

Martin scored one in the sixth before McCarville scored another deuce in the seventh to tighten the gap.

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After the teams traded single points in the next two ends, Martin had a 7-6 lead with hammer heading into the final end. And the Saskatchewan skip left no doubt as she scored three points to earn the 10-6 win.

On Saturday, Martin and company kept up the strong play early on as Team Saskatchewan built up a 6-3 lead with deuces in the first, third and fifth ends.

From there, the teams traded single points as Saskatchewan walked away with the 8-6 win as the team curled a combined 82 per cent.

Meanwhile on Sunday, Martin and Team Saskatchewan didn’t have their best stuff as they fell behind 3-1 to Brown through three ends.

Trailing 5-3 through seven ends, Martin and company scored their first deuce of the game to tie it 5-5 before holding B.C. to a single in the ninth.

Heading into the final end, Martin had a chance to win the game with a deuce but was limited to one point, which tied the game and forced an extra end. And in the 11th end, Brown scored a single point to escape with the 7-6 victory.