Hasselborg takes down Tirinzoni to book playoff spot at WFG Masters
GUELPH, Ont. — Sweden’s Team Anna Hasselborg secured a spot in the WFG Masters playoffs after brushing aside Switzerland’s Team Silvana Tirinzoni 8-2 Thursday night.
Hasselborg booked a berth in the women’s quarterfinals with an unblemished 3-0 record while handing Tirinzoni (2-1) her first defeat in the Grand Slam of Curling tournament.
Team Hasselborg third Sara McManus threw a game-high 95 per cent and credits practising on her in-turn shot earlier in the day with alternate Johanna Heldin and coach Kristian Lindström for the sharp performance.
“It feels amazing,” McManus said. “We have been struggling, to be honest, a little bit playing against them this season. It feels extra nice to just get this one in. It was a really good game from both teams, so it was really fun to play.”
Indeed, Tirinzoni entered the match with an eight-game winning streak over Hasselborg, including the European Championships final in November.
Playing into that friendly rivalry — along with some encouragement from Grand Slam of Curling event staff — Team Hasselborg took inspiration from Team Mike McEwen at the KIOTI National and entered the arena draped in Swedish flags.
“It was just a fun thing, but we definitely got a little bit pumped after seeing McEwen going out there,” McManus said with a laugh. “The crowd was a little bit slower (catching on) this time, but it was a lot of fun. You never know. Maybe that was the thing that made them not win this time.”
What really helped though was starting with the hammer and having control out of the gate. Hasselborg made Team Tirinzoni pay after a couple of misses from fourth Alina Pätz in the second end to deliver a hit for three points to open the scoring.
Tirinzoni sat shot rock in the third but with Hasselborg sitting two stones frozen on top, it wasn’t worth the risk of attempting to go for a multiple score and possibly giving up a steal. Pätz threw her last away to take the one point and get on the board.
A steal in the fifth allowed Tirinzoni to close the gap to 3-2, but Hasselborg made them pay again in the sixth bumping into the pile to jostle things around and count another trio of points.
Pätz’s double raise in the seventh went sideways to concede two more points and out came the handshakes.
Hasselborg wraps up round-robin play Friday against Team Eun-ji Gim with Tirinzoni facing Team Eun-jung Kim.
Team Hasselborg has been in mid-season form by reaching not only the European Championships gold medal game but also the KIOTI National final, finishing runner-up to Team Rachel Homan.
The circus has left town. A major difference for them this season has been not having an entourage at every event as their partners and young children, dubbed Circus Hasselborg, have remained at home.
“It’s a new thing coming from having all the families with us last year and then especially for myself to not have the family with me at all, so it is a big change,” McManus said. “It took us a while just getting (used) to that, just being normal people with no kids around, to be honest.
“Now we’re really enjoying curling and it’s a lot of fun. We’re even enjoying the time off ice being around each other too, so I think we’re at a really good spot.”
Kim topped Gim 6-2 to clinch a playoff spot during a matchup between two of the top South Korean clubs. Team Kim (3-0) is playing short-handed this week as third Kyeong-ae Kim is away at a mixed doubles event.
Gim was eliminated from playoff contention at 0-3.
Japan’s Team Ikue Kitazawa improved to a 2-1 record with a 5-3 victory over Switzerland’s Team Xenia Schwaller (1-2).
Team Danielle Inglis of Ottawa earned a first win in the tournament by defeating Italy’s Team Stefania Constantini 7-4. Inglis (1-2) remained in contention while eliminating Constantini (0-3) from the mix.
UP NEXT
Round-robin play continues Friday with Draw 13 at 8 a.m. ET / 5 a.m. PT. Tickets are available at Ticketmaster.ca.
Live streaming of every game is available in free preview via HomeTeam.
Broadcast coverage on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+ resumes with Draw 14 at 11:30 a.m. ET / 8:30 a.m. PT.
NOTES
The WFG Masters is the fourth Grand Slam of Curling event of the season featuring 16 of the top men’s teams and 16 of the top women’s teams from around the world. … A new rule is being tested this week where teams will lose the hammer if they blank two consecutive ends. … Round-robin play runs through to Friday evening. The top eight teams in both divisions qualify for the playoffs. … If necessary, one tiebreaker round will be held Saturday morning. … The quarterfinals and semifinals are scheduled for Saturday with both finals slated for Sunday.
