News National

OSHAWA, Ont. — Saskatoon’s Stefanie Lawton capped her run in the round-robin portion of the National with a 7-4 victory over Edmonton’s Val Sweeting to qualify for the playoffs Friday afternoon. 

Both teams are moving on to Saturday’s quarterfinals with 3-1 records.

The 2012 Players’ Championship winner Lawton battled back twice falling behind 2-1 after giving up a steal of one in the third when she jammed on a double takeout attempt to blank. Lawton drew against four counters in the fourth to tie it up and swiped a point in five to go ahead, but the lead was short-lived as Sweeting scored a deuce in six to pull back ahead. Lawton matched with a pair of points in seven to regain the one-point advantage and then stole two coming home when Sweeting’s runback attempt missed the target. 

Elsewhere, Edmonton’s Kelsey Rocque improved to a 2-1 record following a 7-2 win over Winnipeg’s Kerri Einarson (2-2). Rocque plays Ottawa’s Rachel Homan in her final round-robin game (watch on Sportsnet East, Ontario and Pacific at 7:30 p.m. ET / 4:30 p.m. PT). 

Winnipeg’s Kristy McDonald is also still in the race with a 7-1 victory over Silvana Tirinzoni of Switzerland. McDonald finished the round robin with a 2-2 record and could move directly into the playoffs or take a detour through the tiebreakers pending the results of the later draws. Tirinzoni, who won the season-opening Tour Challenge Tier 1, dropped to a 1-2 record and needs a win against American Jamie Sinclair in the evening draw to remain in the mix.

Sweden’s Anna Hasselborg closed out her tournament on a positive note, completing the comeback to beat Calgary’s Chelsea Carey 8-5. Down by two after six ends, Hasselborg leaped into the lead with a four-ender in the seventh and stole one in eight to seal the victory. Both teams missed the playoffs with 1-3 records.

Brad Gushue of St. John’s, N.L., is through to the playoffs with a 5-2 victory over Norway’s Thomas Ulsrud in the lone men’s match on the draw. Both teams qualified for the quarterfinals with 3-1 records.

The National is the third stop and second major of the 2015-16 Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling season and runs through to Sunday evening at the General Motors Centre. Previously a men’s invitational, the National expanded this year to include a women’s division for the first time in the event’s history.