News Canadian Open

YORKTON, Sask. — Calgary’s Chelsea Carey eliminated Alina Paetz of Switzerland 8-6 Saturday during the Meridian Canadian Open women’s quarterfinals at the Gallagher Centre.

Carey held the hammer coming home up by one and nailed a double takeout with her last rock of the eighth end to hand the reigning world champion her first and only loss of the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling major tournament.

Paetz hadn’t played since Thursday afternoon after going 3-0 through the A event of the triple knockout preliminary round to qualify while Carey took the long road through the C event to advance at 3-2.

After Paetz was forced to a single in the first, Carey scored a deuce in the second to take the lead and stole two in the third to lead 5-1. Paetz matched right back though to tie it with a deuce in the fourth and a steal of two in the fifth as Carey rubbed a guard. Carey recovered big time with a three-ender in the sixth to reclaim the lead and forced Paetz to draw for a single in the seventh to take the hammer coming home.

Carey will now clash with Ottawa’s Rachel Homan, who moved onto the semifinals with a 7-2 win over Anna Sidorova of Russia. Homan scored a deuce in the second and stole two in the third for an early 4-0 lead. Sidorova was held to one in four and Homan added another pair in five. The teams split singles in six and seven and shook hands. Homan looks to win her third consecutive Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling women’s title following wins at the Masters and National.

Eve Muirhead of Scotland fended off a late charge from Edmonton’s Val Sweeting to win 6-5 and advance to the other semifinal matchup. The defending champion Muirhead jumped out to a 4-0 lead at the break with a point in the first followed by single steals in three consecutive ends. Sweeting derailed the steal train and got on track hitting for three points in the fifth, forcing Muirhead to a single in the sixth, and scoring a deuce in the seventh to knot it up. Muirhead fired her final shot of the eighth end through the port for a takeout and the winning single.

Muirhead will meet Winnipeg’s Jennifer Jones, who advanced with a 6-2 win over Tracy Fleury of Sudbury, Ont. Jones took two in the first and stole a pair in the second. Fleury settled for a single in the third. Jones scored another deuce in the sixth, Fleury could only get one in the seventh and shook hands. 

NOTES: The Meridian Canadian Open is the fourth stop — and third major — of the 2015-16 Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling season and runs through to Sunday. … The event features a triple knockout where teams must win three games before they lose three in order to qualify for the playoffs.