News Tour Challenge

CRANBROOK, B.C. — Saskatoon’s Steve Laycock took down recently Masters winner Niklas Edin of Sweden 9-6 during Draw 2 action Wednesday morning in the Tour Challenge Tier 1. 

Edin is fresh off of capturing his first career Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling men’s title just over a week ago in Okotoks, Alta. Laycock was on a red-hot run there as well winning five consecutive games until falling to Brad Jacobs of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., in the semifinals. 

Team Laycock third Kirk Muyres said it felt good kicking things off at the Tour Challenge with a win over the top-ranked team on the World Curling Tour’s year-to-date standings.

“When you look at the scoreboard or who we’re playing this week you’ve got to get that first one out of the way because it doesn’t get easier,” Muyres said. “It’s something to say when it doesn’t get any easier with the best team in the world. We knew we had to come out there and play well. That’s one you don’t know if you can get so when you do you feel good about it going into the nap this afternoon.”

Business picked up quickly in the match with 14 rocks in play during the first end. Laycock’s stone on the button was frozen solid from an Edin counter and he opted to throw his last away to take the single.

“It’s not really necessarily the way we go about our business but sometimes you’ve got to deal with it,” Muyres said. “We’re learning the ice, we’re learning the rocks, the rocks are new, so it was go get ’em from the beginning and lots of back and forth. Again, a lot of times we don’t deal with those back and forths like some of the other teams do but it’s just sometimes the way the game goes and we kept battling. We played well. It was just a tough sheet of ice.” 

Laycock made a double takeout in the second end to sit two counters split across the rings and forced Edin to draw to the button for a tying single. Edin misfired in the third end as he hit and rolled at the wrong angle to collide with his other rock and bumping both of them out of the house. Already sitting shot rock, Laycock just needed to hit the house for a deuce and a 3-1 lead. 

Laycock’s last in the fourth went through the rings, however, Edin was unable to capitalize as his shooter crashed on a guard to give up a steal of one and fall behind by three. Edin rebounded with an equalizing three-ender in the fifth to knot it up 4-4. Laycock took two in the sixth and Edin matched with a pair of his own in seven to keep pace. Laycock sat three in the eighth and didn’t need to throw his last as Edin’s shooter wrecked on his own guard. 

Meanwhile, Thomas Ulsrud of Norway doubled up on Scotland’s David Murdoch 8-4. Ulsrud scored deuces in the third and fifth ends and counted three in the seventh.

In women’s division action, Tracy Fleury of Sudbury, Ont., earned a 7-3 victory over Winnipeg’s Kerri Einarson and Michelle Englot’s Winnipeg-based team held on for an 8-7 win against Sweden’s Margaretha Sigfridsson. 

NOTES: The Tour Challenge is the second of seven events on the 2016-17 Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling schedule. … TV coverage begins Thursday at 3 p.m. ET / Noon PT on Sportsnet and online/mobile at Sportsnet NOW. … Tour Challenge action continues Wednesday at 1 p.m. MT.