Manitoba’s Kaitlyn Lawes reaches Scotties Tournament of Hearts final

By Canadian Press on January 31, 2026.

MISSISSAUGA — Manitoba’s Kaitlyn Lawes has advanced to the final of the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.

She beat Canada’s Kerri Einarson 10-2 in eight ends in the 1/2 Page playoff game on Saturday night.

Einarson will meet Alberta’s Selena Sturmay in the national women’s curling championship semifinal on Sunday afternoon.

The winner of that game will take on Lawes in that evening’s final.

Einarson or Rachel Homan have been finalists at the Tournament of Hearts final each of the past nine years.

Homan, the reigning national champion, is missing this year’s event because she’s representing Canada at the Milan Cortina Olympics.

Lawes jumped out to an early lead in the first end when she scored a quad. Although Einarson answered with a single in the second, Lawes kept racking up the points with a deuce in the third and a single in the fourth.

It looked like Einarson might chip away at Lawes’s considerable lead in the fifth end but her takeout stone rolled further than its target, giving Lawes another point for an 8-1 lead. Einarson missed an angle-raise takeout in the sixth, extending Lawes’s lead to eight points.

Einarson gave a sardonic fist pump as she slid down the ice after getting a single in the seventh. The two sides shook hands after Lawes had a single in the eighth end.

Earlier Saturday, Sturmay beat Nova Scotia’s Christina Black 8-4 in the Page 3/4 playoff game. Sturmay said she needed time to process the victory, even as she knew she had to start preparing to face either Einarson or Lawes.

“Honestly, it hasn’t really sunk in yet that we’re in the semifinal,” said Sturmay minutes after her win over Black. “But we’re ready to keep fighting and keep playing well and see where that goes.”

Black has had an impressive 13 months, placing third at last year’s Tournament Hearts after losing to Einarson 9-8 in the semifinal. She then lost to Homan in the best-of-three final at this year’s Olympic curling trials.

“I wanted to win this thing. Definitely wanted to get on the podium and get a little further than last year, but I’m still really proud,” said Black.

“We played really well all week and had a great season. It’s been a long week and a great two years together of battling and just accomplishing so much.

“I’m really proud of us, but I’m a little heartbroken.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 31, 2026.

John Chidley-Hill, The Canadian Press