Olympic champion skip Jennifer Jones of Winnipeg shot a nearly perfect 29 of 30 to win the 2016 Ford Hot Shots competition today at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
Jennifer Jones celebrates winning a Ford in the 2016 Ford Hot Shots competition at the 2016 Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Grande Prairie, AB (Curling Canada/Andrew Klaver photo)
In winning her second Hot Shots title Jones scored a perfect five points on five of the six shots – hit and stay, draw to the button, draw through port, raise and double take-out. She was inches from a perfect five on the hit-and roll, scoring four.
Her 29 points easily beat Prince Edward Island third Robyn Green who scored only 13 after leading all semifinalists with 25.
“I already drive an Edge but I was looking at upgrading so this is perfect timing,” Jones said of winning a two-year lease on a 2016 EcoBoost powered Ford Edge Sport SUV, with an approximate retail value of $49,789 MSRP.
Green said the $2,000 she won as runner-up is a “nice bonus.”
Jones, skip of Team Canada here, had finished tied for second in the semifinal with Prince Edward Island lead Marie Christianson and won a draw-to-the-button shot to advance to the final. Christianson was $1,000 as the third-place finisher.
The day began with eight finalists. Jenn Brine of Nova Scotia, Quebec skip Marie-France Larouche, Selena Kaatz of Manitoba and Sarah Murphy of Nova Scotia were eliminated in the first playoff round.
Christianson and Nova Scotia second Blisse Joyce were eliminated in the semifinal.
The 22nd year of the annual competition saw curlers attempting six different shots: Hit and Stay, Draw the Button, Draw the Port, The Raise, Hit and Roll and Double Takeout. Each shot is awarded points on a scale from 0-5 depending on the end result of the shot.
Last year at the Scotties, Newfoundland/Labrador’s Heather Strong won her second consecutive Ford Hot Shots title. Previous Ford Hot Shots winners at the Hearts are the Territories’ Kelli Turpin and Kerry Galusha, British Columbia’s Sherry Fraser, Kelley Law (twice) and Kristy Lewis, Alberta’s Marcy Balderston and Cheryl Bernard, Saskatchewan’s Kay Montgomery, Manitoba’s Gerri Cooke and Jill Officer, Ontario’s Andrea Lawes, Jenn Hanna and Rachel Homan, New Brunswick’s Allison Farrell (Franey), Prince Edward Island’s Suzanne Birt (Gaudet), Nova Scotia’s Colleen Jones, Saskatchewan’s Amber Holland and Jones in 2011.