Gim, Tirinzoni advance to Princess Auto Players’ Championship semifinals
TORONTO — South Korea’s Team Eunji Gim and Switzerland’s Team Silvana Tirinzoni are through to the semifinals of the Princess Auto Players’ Championship.
Gim eliminated Sweden’s Team Anna Hasselborg 8-7 and Tirinzoni bounced South Korea’s Team Eun-Jung Kim 6-3 during the women’s quarterfinals Saturday at the Mattamy Athletic Centre.
Tirinzoni will play No. 1 seed Rachel Homan, whose Ottawa-based team topped the table undefeated at 5-0, and Gim will meet Sweden’s Team Isabella Wranå (4-1) during the evening draw.
Gim and Tirinzoni also posted 4-1 records through pool play, however, Wranå earned the bye based on draw-to-the-button shootout totals.
Although Gim got out to a fast start against Hasselborg scoring four in the opening frame, it still came down to an extra end — and almost needed a second extra end to solve.
Gim just needed to hit and stick with the last rock of the game to secure a spot in the semis. Easier said than done, of course. After making the connection, Gim’s shooter almost rolled out of the house but stuck around at the edge of the 12-foot circle.
Hasselborg trailed 7-4 after five ends and had an opportunity to tie it up with a hit in the sixth, however, her shooter rolled out and clipped one of her rocks along the way to only get one.
The seven-time Grand Slam champion Hasselborg was able to erase the deficit regardless. Gim wrecked on a guard with her last in seven and was too tight to Hasselborg’s shot rock in eight to give up back-to-back steals and force OT.
Meanwhile, Tirinzoni earned an early 3-0 lead with a deuce in the first followed by a steal of one in the second. Kim faced a triangle of counters and attempted a double, hitting the outside stone but couldn’t connect on the other to give up a steal.
Kim got two in the third to get on the board and forced Team Tirinzoni fourth Alina Pätz to draw for a point in the fourth.
After singles back and forth in five and six, Kim looked to blank but completely missed Tirinzoni’s lone rock in the house to fall behind by three.
UP NEXT
Team Brad Gushue of St. John’s, N.L., will take on Scotland’s Team Ross Whyte and Sweden’s Team Niklas Edin face Italy’s Team Joël Retornaz in the men’s quarterfinals. Saskatoon’s Team Mike McEwen and Team Bruce Mouat of Scotland await the winners.
Watch the men’s quarterfinals live at 3:30 p.m. ET / 12:30 p.m. PT on Sportsnet, Sportsnet+ (Canada) and gsoclive.com (international).
