McEwen slides past Clark in first game of Humpty’s Champions Cup
SHERWOOD PARK, Alta. — Winnipeg’s Mike McEwen slid out to a 6-1 victory over American Brady Clark in Draw 3 action Wednesday afternoon at the Humpty’s Champions Cup.
It was the first game for both teams in the season-ending Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling event featuring the top winners of 2015-16. McEwen captured his sixth GSOC title at the Masters while Clark claimed the USA Curling men’s national championship to receive invitations.
McEwen was forced to a single in the first and stole a point in the second to lead 2-0. The teams alternated singles in three and four and McEwen made it a three-point advantage swiping another one in five. Clark pulled off an incredible draw through a tight port in the sixth end, but his shooter still came up short giving up a steal of two to bring out the handshakes.
Team McEwen fifth/coach Jon Mead is making his late-season debut filling in for third B.J. Neufeld, who has stayed home with his wife Sarah as they are expecting their first child in early May.
Edmonton’s Mick Lizmore fended off Calgary’s Pat Simmons 8-7 in an extra end. Lizmore, who improved to a 1-1 record, led 7-3 until Simmons started a late comeback taking two in the seventh and stealing a pair in the eighth to send it into an extra. It’s the swan song event for Team Simmons with second Carter Rycroft and lead Nolan Thiessen planning to step back from competitive curling.
Winnipeg’s Reid Carruthers doubled up Bruce Mouat of Scotland 8-4. Carruthers snapped a 2-2 tie with a four-ender in the fifth and the teams alternated deuces in six and seven. It was the first game for Carruthers while the world junior champion Mouat dropped to 0-2.
In women’s division action, Japan’s Ayumi Ogasawara scored a single in the eighth end to edge Silvana Tirinzoni of Switzerland 4-3 and Japan’s Satsuki Fujisawa scored a deuce in the first and held on from there in a 4-2 win over Jacqueline Harrison, of Mississauga, Ont.
NOTES: The Humpty’s Champions Cup is the seventh and final event of the 2015-16 Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling season and runs through to Sunday at the Sherwood Park Arena Sports Centre. … TV coverage begins Thursday on Sportsnet. … The event is the second of two new tournaments added to the schedule this year along with the Tour Challenge, which kicked off the season in September. … Teams had to win an event over the course of the season in order to qualify for the Humpty’s Champions Cup.
