Defending champion Heather Nedohin opens with victory at Scotties

Team Canada's Heather Nedohin opened defence of her Scotties Tournament of Hearts title on Saturday afternoon with a 9-6 victory over New Brunswick's Andrea Crawford.

The Edmonton skip scored two in the final end for the win at the K-Rock Centre.

"I thought we controlled the latter half of the game," Nedohin said. "It's reading the ice, knowing how we can make shots and understanding our rocks too."

Four-time Scotties champ Jennifer Jones of Manitoba posted an 8-6 win over Prince Edward Island's Suzanne Birt and Ontario's Rachel Homan whipped Stacie Devereaux of Newfoundland and Labrador 8-1.

Saskatchewan's Jill Shumay dumped Kerry Galusha of the Northwest Territories/Yukon 7-2 in the other early game.

Draw 2 was scheduled for Saturday evening. Round-robin play continues through Friday with the playoffs set for next weekend.