Women's Curling
February 27, 2003

Third time is a charm for Team Colleen Jones at 2003 Scott Tournament of Hearts

Whirlpool“ Home Appliances is pleased to congratulate Team Colleen Jones on their third consecutive Scott Tournament of Hearts championship, after taking the 2003 title on February 23 in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario. This is Colleen Jones’ fifth Scott Tournament of Hearts title overall, four of those being accomplished with the same player line-up, which ranks Team C. Jones as Canada’s strongest force in women’s curling.

At the end of tournament week, Team C. Jones (Team Canada) had earned a second place ranking with a record of 8-3, behind Team Suzanne Gaudet of PEI who held the title spot at 10-1. Top scores advanced the two teams to the semi-final playoff on Friday night, where Team C. Jones met their first place competitor, Team Gaudet. Team C. Jones battled hard to emerge victorious with a 6-3 score over Gaudet which automatically advanced them to a position in the final game on Sunday. Gaudet went on to play Team Cathy Cunningham of Newfoundland and narrowly missed advancement with a 6-5 loss to Cunningham, who won the spot to play the reigning Team Canada in the finals.

In finals action Sunday afternoon, Team Cunningham got off to a rough start by trailing 5-0 to Team C. Jones at the conclusion of third end. They regained their footing quickly and left little chance for Jones to fight back by scoring two in the fourth, fifth and seventh, to tie the game 6-6 by the beginning of the eighth. The nail biting battle continued for two more ends, prompting an 11th end when the score sat unwavering at the end of the tenth, 7-7. When Cunningham spoiled her attempt behind a corner guard in the 11th end, Jones was given the chance to score two points to win the national title with a final score of 9-7.

Team Colleen Jones will represent Canada for a third straight year at the 2003 Ford World Curling Championship, April 5-13 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Team C. Jones walked away with the 2001 world title in Switzerland, but lost the chance at a bronze medal last year against Norway in North Dakota.

Whirlpool“ proudly supports extraordinary Canadian women athletes and everyday champions across the country. We wish Colleen Jones and her team best of luck as they attempt to bring the women’s world curling title, back to Canada.