Jones tops Homan for inaugural Champions Cup women’s title
SHERWOOD PARK, Alta. — Winnipeg’s Jennifer Jones finished her season capturing the inaugural Humpty’s Champions Cup women’s title with a 7-5 victory over Ottawa’s Rachel Homan in Sunday’s final.
The team of Jones, third Kaitlyn Lawes, second Jill Officer and lead Dawn McEwen cashed in $24,500 CAD
Jones, who has also won the Players’ Championship five times, became the first female skip to win six Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling women’s titles.
“That’s awesome,” Jones said. “It’s a great event, we love that they’re adding new events for the players and to be the first ones to win is something special.”
It was Jones’s third consecutive Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling final following runner-up finishes to Homan in the Meridian Canadian Open in December and Scotland’s Eve Muirhead in the Players’ Championship just two weeks ago.
The third time was the charm for Jones, who opened with the hammer and never trailed. Homan attempted a slash double in the first end but missed the second counter and Jones made the easy draw into the house for a deuce.
Homan faced two counters again in the second end and made the double with her shooter spilling up and out of the house for the blank. Jones split the rings in the third and forced Homan to draw to the four-foot circle for a single. After Jones added another pair in the fourth, Homan matched taking two in the fifth to bring it back within a one-point deficit.
The metaphorical three-count came in an energizing sixth end when Jones made a perfect long runback to get the takeout and hold a huge four-point advantage.
Homan made a soft hit and roll for a deuce in the seventh but trailed by two without the hammer coming home and Jones kept the house clean in eight to run her out of rocks.
The team of Homan, third Emma Miskew, second Joanne Courtney and lead Lisa Weagle had a historic season on the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling tour becoming the first to win three consecutive women’s majors (Masters, National and Canadian Open) and the first to compete in the Elite 10 men’s invitational and win a game against a top-ranked men’s team since Sportsnet acquired the series in 2012. Homan clinched the Rogers Grand Slam Cup with ease as the season champion and earned a grand total of $195,500 in the series including $15,500 at the Humpty’s Champions Cup.
NOTES: The Humpty’s Champions Cup is the seventh and final event of the 2015-16 Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling season. … The event is the second of two new tournaments added to the schedule this year along with the Tour Challenge, which kicked off the season in September. … Toronto’s John Epping and Winnipeg’s Reid Carruthers will play in the men’s final later Sunday. … The Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling returns for the 2016-17 season starting with the Masters, Oct. 25-30, in Okotoks, Alta.
