Marla Mallett of Vancouver has been a dominant curler on the ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ scene for many years but too many times, for her liking, she has fallen short in the ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ women's Scotties championship game.
Mallett shed that bridesmaid image yesterday at the Parksville Curling Club with an impressive 8-5 victory over defending champion Allison MacInnes of Kamloops, who suffered her first lost of the eight-team competition after going 7-0 in the round robin.
The 38-year-old Mallett, who was born in Nanaimo, will be back at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Victoria at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre Feb. 21-March 1. Mallett also represented ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ at the Scotties in 1995 and 1997.
Mallett, backed by Grace MacInnes (sister of Allison), Diane Gushulak and Jacalyn Brown, were on the verge of elimination during Friday's last round-robin draw against Georgina Wheatcroft of Cloverdale.
The Mallett team won on the extra end to force a three-way tiebreaker between Wheatcroft, Kristen Recksiedler of Richmond and Mallett.
After the win against Wheatcroft, the Mallett team got on a roll and there was no stopping them. Mallett downed Recksiedler in the second tiebreaker before beating Jodi Maskiewich of Royal City 9-5 in yesterday's semifinal.
"Before Friday's game against Wheatcroft, we just treated it like we were in a bonspiel and playing in the last-chance C Event,'' said Mallett. "We knew that we had to bring our A game or we would be eliminated.
"I have been to provincials for many years and I think I have finished second six times,'' said Mallett. "It feels great to finally win one again and be able to wear the ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ colours again."
In the final, the MacInnes team was not sharp. With the hammer in the second end, MacInnes failed in her attempt to blank. Then in the third end, MacInnes flashed on open hit and Mallett took early control of the game with the deuce.
With Mallett holding a 3-2 lead after five ends, the turning point came in the sixth when Mallett stole four points for a commanding 7-2 lead. The Mallett team was counting four when MacInnes attempted a delicate tapback for one. Her rock was a touch heavy and after a measurement, Mallett was awarded four points.
Mallett is one of the best
hitters in the game and she was in complete control after that.
"That was the key shot of the game,'' said Allison MacInnes. "I was a little unsure of the ice and just a touch heavy. But that is all part of the game of curling.
"I'm very happy that my sister [Grace] will have the opportunity to play in the Scotties in Victoria.''
Grace and Allison played together for many years as juniors and in women's curling. They have won ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ junior women's titles but never together.
"I'm happy to be going to my first Scotties but it is also bittersweet because I had to beat my sister to get there,'' said Grace.
This Scotties will be Gushulak's third -- 2004 with Wheatcroft and 1995 with Ontario's Alison Goring. Brown was at the Scotties in 2001 with Richmond's Shelley Macdonald.
"For the majority of the final, we executed very well,'' said Mallett's coach Ken MacDonald. "We knew that Allison's team had a lot of weapons and we just had to defend against them. Before the game, I just told the team to keep it as simple as possible and not think about it as a championship game.''
In the semifinal, Mallett put together two three-enders en route to the decision over Maskiewich. The Maskiewich team, which is coached by TSN curling commentator Linda Moore, lost last year's final to MacInnes.
