Einarson, Gushue kick off KIOTI Tractor Champions Cup title defences with wins
REGINA — When Kerri Einarson and Val Sweeting were last on the ice at the Co-operators Centre six years ago, they were celebrating Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling title victories together although with separate teams.
Sweeting scored the Tour Challenge Tier 1 trophy while Einarson earned the event’s Tier 2 championship plus a promotion into the top flight where she has remained since.
That tournament was also the first time they teamed up just not in the traditional sense as they both got to pie GSOC production office pool loser Rory McCusker in the face.
Einarson and Sweeting have won four Grand Slam championships since joining forces, including last year’s KIOTI Tractor Champions Cup, and return to the Co-operators Centre looking to not only defend the title but possibly pie a new victim as well.
“It’s pretty amazing,” Einarson said upon reflection. “I look around and try to remember, it was so many years ago when we were here. Val and I were talking, ‘Remember when we pied Rory in the face?’ Oh my god. She was like, ‘We’ve got to reenact that.’ I love that, so I think we should do that this week if we win.”
Team Einarson, of Gimli, Man., opened their title defence Tuesday night with a 7-4 victory over Isabelle Ladouceur’s club from Dundas, Ont.
Einarson came up short on her last shot in the second end to concede a single steal and trail 2-0, but she regrouped scoring a three-ender in the third and turned the tables stealing a point of her own in the fifth for a two-point advantage.
Ladouceur scored a deuce in the sixth to tie it 4-all, however, another three-ender for Einarson in the seventh was too much to overcome. Although Ladouceur held the hammer for the final frame, she didn’t get to throw her last as Einarson ran her out of rocks.
Dawn McEwen has come out of retirement from the women’s game this week to sub for Team Einarson lead Briane Harris, who is away on maternity leave.
“We’ve got Dawn playing with us, so it’s definitely different, but she’s fitting in great,” Einarson said. “The ice is a little tricky just to figure out both sides. We had some struggles early but I think we picked it up in the last half.”
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Meanwhile, Brad Gushue is in the same boat as Einarson and Sweeting as his St. John’s, N.L., crew captured the Tour Challenge Tier 1 men’s title here in 2017 and are also the KIOTI Tractor Champions Cup defending champs.
They too kicked off their title defence with a victory defeating Pat Ferris’ team from Grimsby, Ont., 8-2.
The 14-time Grand Slam winner Gushue opened the scoring with a bang counting four points in the second end. After singles back and forth during the following three ends, Gushue finished things with a count of three in the sixth.
Gushue admitted he was a little nervous going into the game because his team hadn’t thrown since the Players’ Championship two weeks ago in Toronto.
“We have no ice at home and certainly, the body doesn’t feel quite like it does when you’re continuously throwing,” Gushue said. “The feel is a little off but we actually played a pretty good game dealing with those things. … In the next game, we’ll start to get better and better. Hopefully, that happens but a win is a positive sign.”
The break between Grand Slams was welcomed as Gushue was able to properly spend some time at home following the Brier, world men’s curling championship and Princess Auto Players’ Championship. That offered its own unique challenges too though.
“It was a busy time when we got home because we were gone for five out of six weeks,” he said. “Trying to catch up on all work-related stuff, spend some time with the family and do all of that other stuff.
“It was still a busy two weeks but it was just nice to get home and sleep in your own bed.”
Elsewhere, Scotland’s Bruce Mouat defeated John Shuster of the United States in a 6-3 set. It was a much better start for Mouat, who went winless through the Players’ Championship.
“It was good,” Mouat said. “I’m enjoying being here, good ice and playing some good curling today, so it was nice to be back winning at the Slams.”
Mouat’s team are just playing as a trio this week as second Bobby Lammie is out with a lower-body injury.
“I guess we’re kind of used to playing with three players this season a wee bit because Bobby had an injury at the start of the season and now at the end of the season,” Mouat said. “I guess we’ve got a wee bit of practice, so it’s not too bad, but we would have loved to have him back on the ice.”
Winnipeg’s Jennifer Jones and her team ended their night early with a 9-2 win over Marianne Rørvik of Norway in six ends.
UP NEXT
Round-robin action resumes Wednesday at the Co-operators Centre with Draw 4 at 8:30 a.m. local time (10:30 a.m. ET).
Broadcast coverage begins Thursday at 2 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. PT on Sportsnet, Sportsnet NOW (Canada) and Yare (international).
NOTES
The KIOTI Tractor Champions Cup is the sixth and final Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling event of the season and features 12 men’s teams and 12 women’s teams who have won tour titles to qualify. … Both divisions are split into two pools of six teams for round-robin play. The best six teams overall qualify for Saturday’s quarterfinals with the top two receiving byes to the semifinals. … The finals are scheduled for Sunday.
