Fujisawa, Einarson stay in mix at Players’ Championship
TORONTO — Satsuki Fujisawa has flipped the script at the Players’ Championship to keep her team’s playoff hopes alive.
After starting the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling tournament at 0-2, the Pyeongchang Winter Games bronze medallist from Japan bounced back with her second consecutive victory defeating Anna Hasselborg 7-4 to bring her record level.
Fujisawa scored three in the sixth and added a steal in the eighth to hold on against the Olympic champion and world silver medallist from Sweden.
“They played a lot better,” Team Fujisawa coach J.D. Lind said. “I know yesterday they had a few bad breaks, maybe weren’t used to the big curl here as maybe opposed to their home club. They’ve been playing better every game and to beat Hasselborg, the best team this season with their Olympics and their world championship showing, we’re very happy.”
Fujisawa dropped her first couple games of the tournament to American Jamie Sinclair and Calgary’s Chelsea Carey before getting on the board with a win over Winnipeg’s Kerri Einarson.
Team Fujisawa is now in control of their own destiny as a victory in the final round-robin draw during the evening against Silvana Tirinzoni’s Swiss squad can guarantee them a playoff spot while a loss puts them into a tiebreaker scenario.
“We’re just happy to give ourselves a chance and every game here is tough,” Lind said. “To get 0-2 was definitely not ideal but we know that if we play well we have a chance to beat anybody. It was nice to play better and hopefully, we can do that again tonight.”
Hasselborg has already advanced with a 3-1 record and wraps things up in Draw 13 against Carey.
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Elsewhere, Einarson downed Tirinzoni 7-3 to also improve to a 2-2 record. Tirinzoni dropped to a 1-3 record and is in a must-win situation versus Fujisawa for a chance at a tiebreaker.
Sinclair (3-1) qualified for the playoffs with a 7-3 victory over Carey (1-3). Einarson meets Sinclair in their remaining round-robin contest.
American Nina Roth (3-2) also advanced after stealing two in the eighth end to edge Edmonton’s Team Rocque, skipped by Laura Crocker (2-3).
Crocker, who is originally from nearby Scarborough, Ont., is into the tiebreakers.
Winnipeg’s Jennifer Jones (5-0) is tuned up for the playoffs cruising to an 8-2 win over EunJung Kim of South Korea. The reigning Canadian and world champion Jones has now won 25 consecutive games dating back to the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in February.
Kim, who earned silver on home ice at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, was eliminated with a 1-4 record.
Team Jones, winners of two Pinty’s GSOC titles in 2017-18, already collected the women’s Bonus Cup and the $75,000 prize as the season women’s champion.
The Players’ Championship is the sixth event and fourth major of the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling season with 12 of the top women’s teams and 12 of the top men’s teams in the world. Teams are split into two pools for round-robin play with the best eight overall qualifying for the weekend playoffs.
Round-robin action continues at Ryerson’s Mattamy Athletic Centre with Draw 12 at 4 p.m. ET. Watch on Sportsnet with online streaming available at Sportsnet NOW (Canada) and Yare TV (international).
Draw 13 goes down at 8 p.m. ET. Broadcast coverage is exclusively online at Sportsnet NOW (Canada) and Yare TV (international).
