News Tour Challenge

NIAGARA FALLS, Ont. — Team Anna Hasselborg of Sweden and Ottawa’s Team Rachel Homan climbed to 2-0 records in the HearingLife Tour Challenge.

Both earned dicey extra-end victories during the sixth round-robin draw Wednesday afternoon at the Gale Centre. Hasselborg held on to win 6-5 over Team Kerri Einarson of Gimli, Man., and Homan slipped past Winnipeg’s Team Jennifer Jones 6-4.

Team Hasselborg lead Sofia Mabergs said it feels really good to ride the momentum from last weekend’s title win on tour at the Players’ Open.

“We came off a victory last weekend and just fly on that wave a little bit,” Mabergs said. “I feel like we’re a strong team right now, so just keep working with that.”

It’s always a battle between Hasselborg and Einarson and this one was no exception.

Hasselborg stole two points off the hop in the opening end as she sat two close counters in the house and Einarson chipped off then rolled just too far away. The teams traded singles and Hasselborg swiped another point in the fourth end to make it 4-1 heading into the break as Einarson came up light on her last.

Einarson rallied in the sixth and capped with an open draw to score an equalizing three points. After Hasselborg was forced to a single in the seventh, Einarson had an opportunity in the eighth to draw for two, and the win, but rolled heavy for just the single that forced the extra end.

Hasselborg had to make a tough double on a staggered pair with the last rock in OT and brought the heat to bump her own and push Einarson’s counters far enough.

“We were talking about just trusting our game and playing the way we want to do and just make more shots than them, I guess,” Mabergs said. “It’s always tough to play Einarson, for sure. I feel like it was our game, so I’m happy with the last shot Anna made. It was absolutely amazing.”

Meanwhile, Homan escaped with a steal in her team’s extra-end victory. Jones held the hammer but chipped off Homan’s counter and rolled away.

Stefania Constantini of Italy completed a comeback scoring two in the seventh and stole back-to-back single points in the eighth and extra ends to edge Winnipeg’s Team Kate Cameron 7-6.

“We really talked to each other and said okay, we have to keep the game tight and wait for the right moment,” Constantini said. “So even if it wasn’t a great start for us, we really kept waiting until the end and it pays good.”

Constantini climbed to a 1-1 record while Cameron dropped to 0-2.

“It’s great playing here in Canada against these teams,” Constantini said. “We are really enjoying it and of course, with a win, it’s also better.”

Team Seung-Youn Ha of South Korea also drew level at 1-1 following a 7-5 win over Vancouver’s Team Clancy Grandy (0-2).

TIER 2: DRAW 6 RESULTS

• Team James Craik 9, Team John Epping 3

• Team Lukas Høstmælingen 7, Team Sam Mooibroek 6

• Team Karsten Sturmay 6, Team Michael Brunner 2

• Team Byeong-Jin Jeong 6, Team Fredrik Nyman 5

UP NEXT

The HearingLife Tour Challenge continues with Draw 7 at 3:30 p.m. local time. Ticket information is available at thegrandslamofcurling.com/tickets.

Broadcast coverage begins with Draw 10 Thursday at 11:30 a.m. ET / 8:30 a.m. PT on Sportsnet and streaming online at Sportsnet+ (Canada) and Yare (international).

NOTES

The HearingLife Tour Challenge is the first Grand Slam of Curling event of the season with 32 men’s teams and 32 women’s teams in two tiers of action. Tier 1 features the top teams from around the world while Tier 2 features the next group of teams looking to move up the rankings into the top flight. … Round-robin play runs through to Friday with the top eight teams in each division qualifying for the playoffs. … The quarterfinals and semifinals are scheduled for Saturday with the finals set for Sunday.