News Canadian Open

NORTH BATTLEFORD, Sask. — It was upset central in Draw 2 of the Meridian Canadian Open.

Briane Meilleur stole a point in the extra end to edge Jennifer Jones 5-4 in a match-up of Winnipeg teams and Jacqueline Harrison of Mississauga, Ont., stunned defending champion Rachel Homan of Ottawa 5-4 Wednesday morning at the Civic Centre.

It was the first game of the triple knockout preliminary round for all teams. Meilleur and Harrison remain in the A event of the triple knockout while Jones and Homan drop to the B event. Teams must win three games before they lose three in order to qualify for the playoffs.

Meilleur shook off some early struggles in her team’s first Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling game together. Jones, who has won six women’s titles in the series, stole back-to-back singles in the first couple ends. The teams alternated points in three and four, Meilleur counted another in five and tied it 3-3 with a steal in six. Jones and Meilleur exchanged singles again in seven and eight to set up the extra end. Jones drew to lie three after her first skip stone, however, Meilleur managed to come around a guard to grab shot rock. It held up for the win when Jones misfired a draw on the last rock of the game.

“It was great,” Meilleur said. “We started off a little slow as expected though. It’s the girls’ first Slam so I knew there would be early jitters but by the end we were curling really well and I’m proud with how the girls played.”

Harrison, who qualified for the event by winning the Tour Challenge Tier 2, swiped two points in the first when Homan crashed on a guard. She never trailed in the game as it was singles going steady through the following five ends. Homan stole one in seven to knot it up 4-4 but gave up the hammer coming home and Harrison threw around a guard to tap out a counter for the winning single.

“We’re so proud to even be here,” Team Harrison lead Melissa Foster said. “Winning the Tier 2 was so exciting. Starting off with a big win against the Homan team is huge. It’s huge for momentum. We were going out there hoping to learn more about the ice and the environment, more about the process rather than the win, but coming out with the win is a double win so we’re really happy.”

Allison Flaxey of Caledon, Ont., came back to beat Tracy Fleury of Sudbury, Ont., 9-7 in an extra end. Fleury held a 6-1 lead at the break stealing three in the second and counting a trio in the fourth. Flaxey rallied with a four-ender in five and swiped singles in six and seven to pull ahead. Fleury was held to one in eight to force the extra.

Edmonton’s Val Sweeting kicked off 2017 with a bang crushing Anna Sidorova of Russia 10-2. Sweeting scored three in the second, five in the fourth and took two in the sixth to bring out early handshakes. Sidorova was limited to singles in three and five.

Bingyu Wang of China earned a 5-3 win over Anna Hasselborg of Sweden.

NOTES: The Meridian Canadian Open is the fourth event and third major of the 2016-17 Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling season. … TV coverage begins Thursday at 11:30 a.m. CT on Sportsnet. … Winners of the Meridian Canadian Open qualify for the season-ending Humpty’s Champions Cup taking place at the end of April in Calgary. … Meridian Canadian Open action continues Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. CT and runs through to Sunday at the Civic Centre in North Battleford.