TRURO – 2009 all over again?
It’s shaping up to be that way for Truro’s Colleen Pinkney rink.
The foursome, which also includes mate Wendy Currie, second Shelley MacNutt and lead Susan Creelman, won its second senior women’s provincial curling title in four years Sunday with an 8-5 victory over Glooscap’s Jocelyn Nix in the final at Digby Curling Club.
The victory earns Pinkney a berth in the Canadian Senior Women’s Curling Championship March 16 to 24 at Silver Fox Curling Club in Summerside, P.E,I., the site of her 2009 Canadian title which led to a world championship the next year in Chelyabinsk, Russia.
“It’s very exciting,” Pinkney said of the provincial title. “It’s a relief because it was a hard fought battle because all of the teams were so evenly matched. We just happened to come out on top.”
Pinkney and Nix were knotted 5-5 after eight ends before Pinkney, with the hammer, scored three in the ninth to seal the victory. For Nix, it was the second runner-up finish in as many weeks after falling in the Scotties provincial women’s championship 6-4 to Mayflower’s Mary-Anne Arsenault.
“I have to give them a lot of credit,” Pinkney said of the Nix squad. “We’re very evenly matched and we know they put their heart and soul into the game like us.”
The victory gave Pinkney a 5-2 record at the event after earning a bye to the final.
The Pinkney foursome also typically competes for the Scotties title, but decided against it this year in order to focus on the senior tournament. The skip said she feels the decision played a big part in the team’s success on the weekend.
“It left us feeling less fatigued than we might have been having played all those games the week before,” she said. “After we made the decision, it was all about the seniors. Everything just came together like it did in 2009.”
Pinkney said the team is excited to be headed back to Summerside for nationals.
“It’s a comfortable, familiar environment for us,” she said. “It’s the same chair so we know they’re going to do a good job and the ice there is incredible.”
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