Howard edges Ulsrud in Draw 3 of Masters
SELKIRK, Man. — Glenn Howard of Penetanguishene, Ont., made no mistake driving his final stone into the house for shot rock to defeat Norway’s Thomas Ulsrud 5-4 during Draw 3 action Wednesday afternoon at the Masters Grand Slam of Curling.
Howard scored pairs of points in the third and fifth ends to lead 4-2 until the reigning world champion Ulsrud replied with a deuce of his own in the sixth to tie it up. A blank in the seventh allowed Howard to retain the hammer for the eighth and final frame.
“Obviously the first game of any bonspiel you’re never sure of anything,” Howard said. “The ice was fantastic and that’s what the players want to see. It was consistent, a good curl and the speed was great throughout the game and that just makes the shot-making great. My guys played terrific and we snuck out a win against Thomas.”
It was also the Grand Slam of Curling return for Richard Hart, who came out of retirement at the start of the season to return to third on Team Howard.
“We had 10 years together and had a lot of success over those years and I was sorry to see him leave three years ago,” Howard said. “Obviously had some great years with Wayne Middaugh and I was sorry to see him go too so with that being said, when Wayne couldn’t play, the best one to come back was Richie so it’s great to have him back.”
Elsewhere, Saskatoon’s Steve Laycock earned two points in the final end to edge Niklas Edin of Sweden 6-5 and Sven Michel scored a deuce in the fifth and stole singles in three consecutive ends to top Peter de Cruz 6-2 in an all-Swiss matchup.
In women’s action, Ottawa’s Rachel Homan scored a deuce in the seventh, stole one in the eighth and two in the extra end to rally past Alina Paetz of Switzerland 7-5.
Russia’s Anna Sidorova scored one in the sixth and stole two in the seventh to lift her team over Alli Flaxey of Listowel, Ont., 6-3. Flaxey now holds a 1-1 record after upsetting Winnipeg’s Jennifer Jones 6-1 in Draw 1.
The Masters continues with Draw 4 Wednesday afternoon at 5:30 p.m. ET / 4:30 p.m. CT.
