(by Ryan Cooke)
SUMMERSIDE – There must be something in the Summerside water for Colleen Pinkney and her team.
Jason Simmonds/Journal PioneerNova Scotia skip Colleen Pinkney releases a shot during the women’s final of the 2013 Canadian senior women’s curling championships in Summerside on Sunday. Lead Susan Creelman, left, and second stone Shelley MacNutt are the sweepers.The Nova Scotia squad from the Truro Curling Club took home the women’s gold medal at the Canadian senior curling championships on Sunday, defeating Alberta’s Deb Santos 7-6 in the championship game.
For Pinkney, this year was a near replica of 2009, the last time the Silver Fox Curling and Yacht Club hosted the national seniors.
“We love Summerside,” she laughed. “It’s the people, it’s the place, it’s the comfort. Everything repeated itself.”
In both championships, Pinkney battled sickness, and went 10-0 (won-lost) into the final game of the round robin. In both years she lost her final game, with the losses even occurring on the same sheet of ice.
Most importantly for Pinkney, both years she emerged as champion.
“We have to absorb it because the entire game it didn’t feel like we were going to win it,” she said. “It didn’t feel right until the ninth end, when we really had to go for it hard and we did, and everybody made their shots.”
The world senior curling championships will take place next year in Europe. The exact dates and location have not yet been determined. Pinkney won the 2010 world women’s senior crown.