Amber Holland defeats Krista McCarville to win Players’ Championship
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — Amber Holland beat the odds at the Players’ Championship to win her first career Grand Slam of Curling title.
The 15th seeded Holland completed a miracle run through the season finale with a 6-4 win over Krista McCarville in Saturday’s final.
“We did not play as well during the first half of the game,” Holland said. “But in ends six, seven and eight we played really well and our team didn’t miss any shots.”
The Saskatchewan squad of Holland, third Kim Schneider, second Tammy Schneider and lead Heather Seeley earned $25,000, 40.000 Canadian Team Ranking System (CTRS) points and a berth in the 2009 Canadian Olympic Pre-Trials.
Team McCarville, of Ontario, picked up $16,000 and 30.000 CTRS points.
McCarville trailed 2-1 after three and looked to score three in the fourth but came up heavy on her draw shot to only get two. Holland settled for a single in the fifth to tie it and stole one in the sixth to pull back into the lead 4-3. McCarville knotted it back up with a point in the seventh, but relinquished the hammer coming home all square at 4-4. Holland made a double takeout in the eighth to score the winning deuce.
Earlier Saturday, Holland scored three points in the final end to complete a 6-4 comeback victory over Eve Belisle of Montreal during the semifinals. McCarville secured her spot in the championship game with a convincing 7-2 victory over Cheryl Bernard of Calgary.
Reigning world champion Jennifer Jones’s quest for a third consecutive Players’ Championship women’s title came to an end in the C Event final with a 7-5 loss to Sherry Middaugh.
