Team Birt wins Fan Vote for PointsBet Invitational, bringing Jones as spare

After earning nearly half the votes, Prince Edward Island’s Team Suzanne Birt will compete at next month’s PointsBet Invitational.

Team Birt received 49 per cent of the vote via Curling Canada’s Twitter poll, beating out Saskatchewan’s Team Nancy Martin (36 per cent), Quebec’s Team Laurie St-Georges (13 per cent) and New Brunswick’s Team Jaclyn Crandall (two per cent).

Birt’s rink, playing out of the Montague Curling Club, will be bringing along a familiar face to Fredericton, as curling legend Colleen Jones is joining the team for the event as a spare for third Marie Christianson.

Jones, a fellow Maritimer who played her entire career out of Nova Scotia, is a six-time Scotties Tournament of Hearts champion, winning her first in 1982 and her last in 2004. She is also a two-time world champion.

The team is rounded out by second Meaghan Hughes and lead Michelle McQuaid.

Birt, 40, is a Scotties veteran as well, with 13 appearances at the national championship under her belt.

Team Birt will have the 14th seed at the PointsBet Invitational and will take on the new-look Team Rachel Homan, now skipped by Tracy Fleury, in the opening round, dubbed the Sweep 16.

Here’s a look at the full women’s bracket:

No. 1 Team Kerri Einarson vs. No. 16 Team Tracy Larocque (Canadian Club champion)
No. 8 Team Kelsey Rocque vs. No. 9 Team Christina Black

No. 5 Team Jennifer Jones vs. No. 12 Team Andrea Kelly (Host-committee selected team)
No. 4 Team Chelsea Carey vs. No. 13 Team Selena Sturmay

No. 6 Team Casey Scheidegger vs. No. 11 Team Kerry Galusha
No. 3 Team Tracy Fleury vs. No. 14 Team Suzanne Birt (Fan vote winner)

No. 7 Team Hollie Duncan vs. No. 10 Team Penny Barker
No. 2 Team Kaitlyn Lawes vs. No. 15 Team Emily Deschenes (Canadian Junior champion)

Teams heading to Fredericton will each receive $5,000 to cover travel and accommodation costs and will earn more cash after each win.

First-round - $3,000
Quarter-final - $6,000
Semifinal - $12,000
Champion - $24,000

The winning men’s and women’s rinks will each take home a total of $50,000.