Winnipeg's Jennifer Jones padded her bank account and shot up the women's world curling tour rankings Monday night in Saskatoon.
She didn't bother looking around to see who she passed.
"No. I don't (watch the standings)," Jones, $9,000 richer, said after posting a 7-4 victory over Regina's Karen Purdy in the final of the Colonial Square Ladies Curling Classic. "I don't even know where everybody's at. But we're obviously happy with where we're at so far." Jones, the 2005 Scott Tournament of Hearts champion and 2006 finalist, failed to qualify in her first two bonspiels this season. But she's made up for that the last two weeks -- pocketing $9,000 after losing the final to Sherry Anderson in the Casinos of Winnipeg Curling Classic and adding another $9,000 with Monday's victory over Purdy.
That $18,000 leaves her just behind Coldwater, Ont.'s Sherry Middaugh, who pocketed $3,500 after losing to Purdy in a semifi nal. Front-running Middaugh has $18,500.
Jones, flanked by Cathy Overton Clapham, Jill Officer and Dana Allerton, served notice that she's back to her old powerhouse self after outlasting the 32-team Saskatoon fi eld.
Jones grabbed control of the championship fi nal quickly, drawing for three in the second end after the Regina skip missed a runback, and stealing a single in the third.
Jones led 6-2 after fi ve ends.
"This was great," said a smiling Purdy, whose $5,000 payday bumped her season earnings to $5,500. "That second end was a bummer for us, though -- for me, anyways.
"The thing with these guys from a hitting point of view . . . they were making doubles, triples. Amazing. They went to school on that a little bit."
The weekend was a giant-toppler for Purdy, who plays with Penny Roy, Susan Lang and Pat Bell. Purdy's 7-3 record included two wins over Middaugh and one over Anderson.
Both finalists reached the playoff round after victories on the C-side.
"We didn't get any breaks early and started slowly, but we got better with each game, which is what we like to do," said Jones, who started 2-2 before reeling off six straight victories. "And good for us -- we got even better in the playoffs."
Middaugh and Winnipeg's Karen Porritt earned $3,500 each after losing semi-fi nals. The quarterfi nalists -- Anderson, Saskatoon's Tracy Streifel, Regina's Jan Betker and Edmonton's Cathy King -- each earned $2,500.
