News Tour Challenge

PARADISE, N.L. — Tracy Fleury of Sudbury, Ont., fended off a late charge from South Korea’s EunJung Kim to win 8-7 in the extra end during Draw 7 action Thursday at the Tour Challenge.

Fleury scored three in the fifth and two in the seventh to lead 7-4, but Kim rallied with a three-ender in eight to tie it. Fleury nailed the hit and stick with her final stone in the extra end to secure the victory.

Both teams hold 1-1 records in the round-robin of the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling season-opening event.

“Overall I think we played the game how we wanted to play,” Team Fleury second Crystal Webster said. “We were in a position to win so that’s sort of what you’re hoping for. Now, the three in eight wasn’t ideal but we came back and finished it off in the extra so that was good.” 

Webster, of Calgary, joined the reigning Northern Ontario champions this season as a fifth player and is taking the place of Jenna Walsh at second during the Tour Challenge.

“They are such an awesome group of girls and they’ve embraced me so it’s been easy to slide into their lineup,” Webster said. “We’ve been trying and experimenting new things and seeing what works best for us.” 

Elsewhere, Ottawa’s Rachel Homan is now 2-0 in the tournament following an 8-3 victory over Binia Feltscher of Switzerland. Homan got one in the second and stole a pair of points in the third to lead 3-0. After giving up two in the fourth, Homan added three to her lead in five and closed out the game with a deuce in seven. Feltscher is 1-1 in the round robin.

In the men’s division, Glenn Howard scored three in the eighth to lift his Penetanguishene, Ont., team to a 6-5 win over Brad Jacobs, of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. Howard holds a 2-0 record while Jacobs is even at 1-1. 

Edmonton’s Brendan Bottcher improved to a 2-1 record with a 7-1 victory over Sven Michel of Switzerland. Bottcher led 2-1 through five ends and pulled away with a three-ender in the sixth followed by a steal of two in seven to eliminate Michel (0-3) from playoff contention. 

Charlottetown’s Adam Casey scored four in the opening end and stole two in the third during a 7-4 win against Scotland’s David Murdoch. Casey is at 1-1 in the tournament while Murdoch fell to 1-2.

NOTES: The Tour Challenge is the first of two new tournaments on the expanded seven-event 2015-16 Pinty’s GSOC season and features 30 men’s and 30 women’s teams split into two tiers. … Winners of the Tier 1 divisions also receive berths to the second new Pinty’s GSOC event, the season-ending Champions Cup. … Tier 2 champions earn byes to the next Grand Slam, the Masters, running Oct. 27 to Nov. 1 in Truro, N.S.