2000 Ontario Scott Tournament of Hearts

2000 Ontario Scott Tournament of Hearts
Host city	Timmins (Schumacher)
Arena	McIntyre Curling Club
Dates	January 25–29, 2000
Winner	Team Merklinger
Curling club	Rideau Curling Club, Ottawa
Skip	Anne Merklinger
Third	Theresa Breen
Second	Patti McKnight
Lead	Audrey Frey
Finalist	Darcie Simpson (Rideau)
«  1999 2001  »

The 2000 Ontario Scott Tournament of Hearts , the provincial women's curling championship of Ontario was held January 25 to 29 at the McIntyre Curling Club in Timmins, Ontario. ^[1] The Anne Merklinger rink from Ottawa won the event. She and her rink of Theresa Breen, Patti McKnight and Audrey Frey would go on to represent Ontario at the 2000 Scott Tournament of Hearts, Canada's national women's curling championship.

The final pitted two teams from Ottawa's Rideau Curling Club against each other, Anne Merklinger against Darcie Simpson (with team mates Margaret McLaughlin, Kelli Andrews and Linda Fulton). Simpson was wide on a takeout in the second end, resulting in a steal of three for Merklinger, which gave Merklinger a 4–0 lead. They did not look back, winning the game 8–2, with Simpson conceding after seven ends. ^[2] It was Merklinger's fourth provincial title. There were about 500 fans on hand to witness the game. ^[3]

Simpson made it to the final by defeating Colleen Madonia from the North Halton Curling Club and her team mates Lindsay Downer, Kim Bradley and Debbie Rauter, 6–4 in the semifinal. Madonia got into time trouble in the game, forcing her to "sprint through the final two ends." Simpson had a simple hit and stick on her last stone to win the game. ^[4]

Qualification process

Qualification method	Berths	Qualifying team(s)
Southern Ontario [1]	4	Colleen Madonia Anne Merklinger Darcie Simpson Janet Brown
Northern Ontario [5]	2	Darla Esch Linda Chyc
Northwestern Ontario	2	Lorraine Lang Kathie Jackson
West Challenge Round [1]	1	Melanie Palmer
East Challenge Round [1]	1	Cheryl McPherson

Standings

Final standings ^[6]

Key
	Teams to Playoffs
	Teams to Tiebreakers

Skip (club)	W	L
Anne Merklinger (Rideau)	8	1
Darcie Simpson (Rideau)	7	2
Colleen Madonia (North Halton)	6	3
Melanie Palmer (Ilderton)	6	3
Janet Brown (Sutton)	6	3
Cheryl McPherson (Bayview)	4	5
Lorraine Lang (Fort William)	3	6
Darla Esch (North Bay)	3	6
Kathie Jackson (Fort Frances)	2	7
Linda Chyc (Sault Ste. Marie)	0	9

Scores

January 25

Draw 1 ^[7]

• Merklinger 9, Chyc 1
• McPherson 6, Madonia 5
• Esch 9, Jackson 8
• Simpson 9, Brown 5
• Palmer 7, Lang 6

Draw 2

• Palmer 7, McPherson 4
• Merklinger 10, Esch 2
• Brown 9, Chyc 5
• Madonia 9, Lang 6
• Simpson 6, Jackson 5

January 26

Draw 3 ^[8]

• Madonia 9, Jackson 7
• Brown 8, Lang 4
• Merklinger 9, Simpson 4
• Palmer 8, Esch 4
• McPherson 9, Chyc 5

Draw 4

• Merklinger 8, Brown 5
• Jackson 13, McPherson 9
• Palmer 7, Madonia 6
• Simpson 8, Chyc 5
• Esch 6, Lang 5

Draw 5

• Esch 11, Chyc 5
• Simpson 9, Palmer 8
• McPherson 9, Lang 5
• Merklinger 10, Madonia 7
• Brown 9, Jackson 0

January 27

Draw 6 ^[9]

• Simpson 9, Lang 5
• Jackson 7, Chyc 5
• Madonia 9, Brown 4
• McPherson 7, Esch 4
• Merklinger 7, Palmer 5

Draw 7

• Brown 9, McPherson 1
• Lang 7, Merklinger 4
• Simpson 8, Esch 5
• Palmer 11, Jackson 9
• Madonia 10, Chyc 2

January 28

Draw 8 ^[10]

• Madonia 10, Esch 2
• Brown 7, Palmer 5
• Merklinger 8, Jackson 1
• Lang 10, Chyc 2
• Simpson 8, McPherson 6

Draw 9

• Lang 4, Jackson 3
• Madonia 6, Simpson 5
• Palmer 8, Chyc 5
• Merklinger 7, McPherson 4
• Brown 8, Esch 7

Tie breakers

January 28

• Palmer 7, Brown 5 ^[3]

January 29

• Madonia 7, Palmer 5 ^[3]

Playoffs

	Semifinal [3]					Final
						1	Anne Merklinger	8
	2	Darcie Simpson	6			2	Darcie Simpson	2
	3	Colleen Madonia	4

Semifinal

January 29 ^[11]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
Darcie Simpson	0	1	0	0	2	0	1	0	0	2	6
Colleen Madonia	0	0	0	1	0	1	2	0	0	0	4

Final

January 29 ^[11]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
Anne Merklinger	1	3	0	0	2	0	2	X	X	X	8
Darcie Simpson	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	X	X	X	2

References

1. "The sound of granite breaks a few hearts". Hamilton Spectator. January 20, 2000. p. 45. Retrieved January 3, 2026.
2. "Merklinger wins another Ontario title". Ottawa Citizen. January 30, 2000. p. 20. Retrieved January 3, 2026.
3. "Merklinger wins fourth Ontario curling title". Toronto Star. January 30, 2000. p. 4. Retrieved January 3, 2026.
4. "Time on Simpson's side in curling semifinal". Toronto Star. January 30, 2000. p. 8. Retrieved January 3, 2026.
5. "Chyc foursome aiming to 'make names for ourselves'". Sault Star. January 24, 2000. p. 8. Retrieved January 3, 2026.
6. "Ontario Women's Curling Championships". Ottawa Citizen. January 29, 2000. p. 70. Retrieved January 3, 2026.
7. "Ontario Women's". Sault Star. January 26, 2000. p. 8. Retrieved January 3, 2026.
8. "Ontario Women's Linescores". Sault Star. January 27, 2000. p. 9. Retrieved January 3, 2026.
9. "Ontario women's championships". Waterloo Region Record. January 28, 2000. p. 54. Retrieved January 3, 2026.
10. "Ontario Women's Curling Championships". Waterloo Region Record. January 29, 2000. p. 62. Retrieved January 3, 2026.
11. "Ontario Women's Championship". Toronto Star. January 30, 2000. p. 40. Retrieved January 3, 2026.