Einarson edges Sweeting in extra end to open Champions Cup
CALGARY — Kerri Einarson knew she had to make it up for her team in the extra end against Val Sweeting during Tuesday’s opening draw of the Humpty’s Champions Cup.
The Winnipeg skip led by three points coming home in the eighth end, but missed her last shot and Sweeting capitalized to score a trey and force OT.
Einarson came through in the clutch during the extra making a draw to the four-foot circle to score the winning point and edge Sweeting 8-7.
“I was confident with my draw weight,” said Einarson, winner of this season’s Boost National. “We played the extra end great, everyone made their shots and made it easy for me. All I wanted was a draw to the four foot.”
Einarson admitted there was a little bit of shakiness on the ice as the team hadn’t played since the Manitoba Scotties provincial championship in late January.
“I haven’t thrown in two weeks. We don’t have any ice back home and if we do it’s only from 12 until three and we’ve got day-time jobs,” Einarson said. “It was a little rusty and we definitely have some improvements. We got off to a good start and all we wanted was a win in our first game, so we got it.”
Jennifer Clark-Rouire is filling in this week on Team Einarson for second Liz Fyfe, who is expecting a baby. Clark-Rouire has served as the team’s alternate in the past, however, this is her first time actually on the ice with the club.
“She’s such a great team player so I knew that’s who I wanted to have on the team to replace Liz for the weekend,” Einarson said. “Jenn is a great fit. She’s out-going and keeps us all together and keeps us all happy so it’s good.”
Sweeting, the Tour Challenge Tier 1 winner, opened with the hammer and made a great double takeout in the first end to score a single.
After Sweeting wrecked on a guard, Einarson took two in the second to pull ahead 2-1. Another double takeout in the third gave the Edmonton native Sweeting a deuce right back to retake the lead 3-2.
After falling into trouble in four, Sweeting pulled off a runback double to limit the damage and Einarson hit and stuck to score three. In a hole again, Sweeting hit off one counter but the second one jammed to stick around for shot rock and a steal as Einarson led 6-3 after five.
Sweeting hit for just one in the sixth after both a stick and laser measurement determined there was a tie for second shot. Einarson matched with a point in seven to reclaim the three-point advantage coming home.
Sweeting clinched the Rogers Grand Slam Cup as the overall season champion en route to a runner-up finish at the WestJet Players’ Championship.
Meanwhile, Meridian Canadian Open winner Casey Scheidegger of Lethbridge, Alta., defeated Russia’s Victoria Moiseeva 7-4. Moiseeva captured the European Championship to qualify and is making her Pinty’s GSOC series debut this week.
WFG Masters champ Allison Flaxey of Caledon, Ont., stole one in the eighth and two in the extra end to swipe an 8-6 victory over world junior champ Isabella Wrana of Sweden. The 19-year-old Wrana is also playing in her first career Pinty’s GSOC event.
World champ Brad Gushue of St. John’s, N.L., took down Pacific-Asia winner Yusuke Morozumi of Japan 9-4 in men’s division action.
Although Gushue didn’t open with the hammer, he jumped out to an early 4-0 advantage stealing one in the first end and three in the second. After Morozumi settled for a single in three, Gushue made the most of his first opportunity with hammer in the fourth to hit and score four and take a commanding 8-1 lead. Morozumi got a deuce in five and stole one in six to chip away at the deficit, but shook hands after Gushue tacked on another point in seven.
“We played a perfect, pretty good first end and got lucky on his last there, he came up short to give us a steal,” Team Gushue third Mark Nichols said. “Then we played a great second end, left him with a tough shot and lucky for us he missed again. Once we got that lead we were kind of smooth sailing, but we played a really good first half.”
It’s been a crazy month for Nichols from winning his first career world men’s title in Edmonton to zipping over to Toronto and reaching the semifinals in the WestJet Players’ Championship. Nichols didn’t get much rest last week as his wife Colette gave birth to their second son Emmett just a couple days ago. While it would’ve been understandable if Nichols remained at home and missed the Humpty’s Champions Cup, it was his wife who convinced him to play.
“Colette is doing great and the new addition, Emmett, he’s doing awesome,” Nichols said. “I was thinking about staying and Colette said, ‘You know what? The year’s been so great, why don’t you go and play the last event and enjoy it, then we’ve got all summer to get to know the new addition.’ It is what it is now and I’m excited to get home and spend some time with the family.”
Calgary’s Kevin Koe, winner of the Shorty Jenkins Classic, topped Tour Challenge Tier 2 victor Greg Balsdon of Kingston, Ont., 6-4. Ben Hebert is back in at lead on Team Koe after missing the previous two Pinty’s GSOC events due to a knee injury.
Round-robin action continues through to Friday evening with the top eight teams in each division qualifying for the weekend playoffs. Teams had to win a high-profile tournament in order to receive an invite for the season-ending Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling tournament.
TV coverage begins Thursday on Sportsnet One, online at Sportsnet NOW (Canada) or gsoc.yaretv.com (international).
