News Tour Challenge

CRANBROOK, B.C. — Tracy Fleury of Sudbury, Ont., has climbed up to a 2-0 record in the Tour Challenge Tier 1.

Fleury surged in the second half to slip past Edmonton’s Kelsey Rocque 7-4 during Draw 4 action Wednesday afternoon.

“It definitely feels good,” Fleury said. “We feel like we have some momentum on our side, so hopefully we can keep it going.” 

The game was close in the first half. Fleury was held to a single in the first and stole a point in the second for an early 2-0 lead, but Rocque rebounded hitting with a light roll to score a deuce in the third to tie it. Fleury was forced to a single in four and Rocque took two in the fifth to pull ahead. Fleury took control from the sixth end onward matching with a deuce to regain the lead and stealing a pair in the seventh as she sat two counters split across the house with the front door blocked by guards and Rocque was unable to grab shot with her last. Fleury ran Rocque (1-1) out of rocks in eight.

“We always seem to have tight games with them,” Fleury said. “They’re a really good team so we knew we had to play our best and we’re happy with how the game went.”

Elsewhere, Ottawa’s Rachel Homan won her first game of the Tour Challenge Tier 1 doubling up on Ayumi Ogasawara of Japan 6-3. Ogasawara fell to a 0-2 record.

In men’s action, John Morris of Vernon, B.C., moved up to 2-0 edging Brad Jacobs of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., 6-5 with a single in the eighth end. Jacobs (0-1) finished runner-up at the WFG Masters just over a week ago to open the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling season.

Winnipeg’s Mike McEwen won his first game of the event taking a 6-2 set over Niklas Edin of Sweden. Edin, who won his first Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling men’s title at the WFG Masters, fell to a 0-2 record. 

Winnipeg’s Reid Carruthers climbed to a 2-0 record downing Toronto’s John Epping 8-2. Epping opens with a 0-1 record.

NOTES: The Tour Challenge is the second of seven events on the 2016-17 Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling schedule. … TV coverage begins Thursday at 3 p.m. ET / Noon PT on Sportsnet and online/mobile at Sportsnet NOW. … Tour Challenge action continues Wednesday at 8 p.m. MT. … The Tour Challenge runs through to Sunday at Western Financial Place (all Tier 1 games and Tier 2 finals) and Memorial Arena (Tier 2 games from round-robin play to semifinals).