Carey completes comeback to defeat Jaeggi in WFG Masters
OAKVILLE, Ont. — Winnipeg’s Team Chelsea Carey rallied to secure their second straight victory in the WFG Masters at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex.
Down 3-0 after the first, Carey chipped away at the deficit and capped things off with a great shot to score the winning point in the eighth end to defeat Switzerland’s Team Michele Jaeggi 6-5 during Draw 8 action Wednesday night.
Carey, who stole one in the final frame to beat Sweden’s Team Anna Hasselborg 5-4 Tuesday, improved to a 2-0 record at the midway mark of pool play in the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling major tournament.
“It’s big for sure,” Carey said. “It was obviously not a very good first end and then you put yourself in a hole against a really good team. We had to battle back, had to get a few breaks.
“I made it a little nervous on myself at the end there, but we were able to pull it off with a great sweep on my last one.”
Carey and lead Rachel Erickson are joined by alternate Jamie Sinclair at third and spare Laurie St-Georges, who is making her GSOC top-tier debut, at second.
Third Jolene Campbell and second Liz Fyfe are not at the event this week, but Carey said the temporary lineup has been really great.
“It’s been pretty easy,” Carey said. “Laurie’s just so lovely and nice. She keeps things very light and that’s really helpful. She’s super positive and a great influence on us, for sure.”
After Jaeggi (1-1) scored the three-ender to start, Carey settled for a single in the second and managed to steal back-to-back points to tie it 3-3 heading into the fourth-end break.
Carey maintained control by limiting Jaeggi to a single in the fifth, scoring a deuce in the sixth and forcing her opponent to another lone point in the seventh to reclaim the hammer coming home.
Meanwhile, Hasselborg recovered from the disappointing loss to Carey by downing Switzerland’s Team Silvana Tirinzoni 7-2 in only six ends.
Hasselborg (1-1) also has a lineup adjustment with third Sara McManus away on maternity leave.
“Sara is doing very well,” Hasselborg said. “She is very, very nervous following us online. She’s texting the coach all the time for updates and videos. Maybe the baby will come because she’s so nervous but I think she’s happy with that, too. She feels ready and we’re ready to meet the little baby too. She feels very good.”
Second Agnes Knochenhauer and lead Sofia Mabergs have both moved up spots in the throwing order with Therese Westman filling in at lead.
“We are a new lineup again and we played a really solid game yesterday,” Hasselborg said. “To not get a win out of that was really hard, so today we just said to continue to do what we did well yesterday to the same level and just turn the screws a little bit. I think we did that and it worked out fine.”
After consecutive blanks to start, the waiting game paid off big time as Hasselborg capitalized on some Tirinzoni errors to score a game-breaking five-ender in the third.
“We got a little bit lucky with some unusual mistakes from Tirinzoni,” Hasselborg said. “Sofia nailed two perfect freezes, all of the angles were in our favour and we just kept the pressure on.”
Tirinzoni (0-2) took two points in the fourth, but that was all the offence for the three-time reigning world champion as Hasselborg added a single in the fifth and stole a point in the sixth.
Ottawa’s Team Rachel Homan also grabbed a share of the lead at 2-0 following a 6-2 victory over South Korea’s Team Eun-Ji Gim (1-1). Homan captured a record-extending 12th Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling women’s title at the HearingLife Tour Challenge in October.
Sweden’s Team Isabella Wranå (1-1) scored two in the seventh and stole one in the eighth for a 7-4 decision over Team Casey Scheidegger (0-2) from Lethbridge, Alta.
Scheidegger and second Jessie Haughian are not playing this week due to a family emergency. Third Kate Hogan is skipping and lead Taylor McDonald is throwing second. Meghan Walter and Mackenzie Elias from Winnipeg’s Team Abby Ackland are subbing at third and lead, respectively.
UP NEXT
The WFG Masters resumes Thursday at 8 a.m. ET. Tickets are available at the door or online at masters.goigniter.com.
Broadcast coverage begins with the following draw at 11:30 a.m. ET / 8:30 a.m. PT on Sportsnet, Sportsnet NOW (Canada) and Yare (international).
NOTES
The WFG Masters is the third event of the 2022-23 Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling season featuring 16 of the top men’s teams and 16 of the top women’s teams from around the world. … Round-robin play runs through to Friday as teams play four games against opponents outside of their pools. … The top eight teams overall advance to Saturday afternoon’s quarterfinals. The semifinals are set for Saturday evening with both finals on tap for Sunday.
