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

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.

Winnipeg's 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, Stacie Curtis outscored Heather Strong 11-8 in Newfoundland and Labrador, and Christina Black defeated Tanya Hilliard 9-4 in Nova Scotia.

Jones, Homan, Silvernagle, McCarville, Curtis and Black joined Kayla Skrlik (Alberta), 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 entries 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.

The Hearts winner will represent Canada at the world championship March 18-26 in Sandviken, Sweden.

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