By Jonathan Brazeau
MEDICINE HAT, Alta. — Edmonton's Team Selena Sturmay emerged victorious over Team Anna Hasselborg in a must-win matchup Friday afternoon at the P&H Masters.
Sturmay (3-1, eight points) held on for a 7-6 victory and qualified for the playoffs for the first time in the Grand Slam of Curling presented by Molson Canadian.
"That feels great," said Danielle Schmiemann, who throws third stones for Sturmay. "We knew we needed some points out of that game, for sure. How many we weren't exactly sure, so we tried our best to get the full three. Happy going into the quarterfinals."
Team Sturmay received an invite to the Grand Slam tournament after winning the Autumn Gold Curling Classic satellite qualifying event last month just outside of Calgary in Okotoks, Alberta.
Schmiemann said it's nice to advance to the playoffs on home-province ice.
"We were really lucky to be here this week. We had a good week in Calgary to get us into this event, so we feel like we really earned our spot this week," she said. "We just wanted to show that we can fit in here, we belong here and it wasn't just kind of a one-off sort of thing, so I'm very happy with that."
The two-time Olympic gold medallist Hasselborg was eliminated at 2-2 (four points).
Sturmay will now play Team Rachel Homan in the women's quarterfinals on Saturday (4 p.m. EST / 3 p.m. ABT).
The Ottawa club advanced with a 6-5 shootout win over Sweden's Team Isabella Wranå in the evening draw.
"We’ve just got to keep getting better every game and it’s still early in the season for us," said Homan, who is playing in only her second tournament of the 2026-27 campaign. "Everyone's just playing so well, all the teams, and they've been playing for a while. We've got a bit of catch-up to do here and that's OK. We knew that was going to be the case coming into the season.
"It's just the Grand Slams. Everyone's so phenomenal. Wranå played an amazing game, so kudos to her and her team, and hopefully we see them again in the playoffs."
Wranå trailed 5-3 with the hammer coming home and pulled off a double takeout to score a deuce to force the shootout.
The game of inches struck again. Homan shot first and covered the pin as the Alberta crowd roared. Wranå reached the button on her shot, but her shooter was just short of the pinhole.
"The fans are amazing here in Medicine Hat," said Homan, who qualified with a 3-1 record (eight points). "Everyone's been so welcome, so it's fun to play in a city I haven't played in before. That's a first in a while."
Alternate Rachelle Brown is in Homan's lineup at lead this week, with Sarah Wilkes injured.
"She's there for any role that we need, just a phenomenal lead and career veteran," Homan said. "Always been in so many big moments, so it's great to have her on the team."
Wranå finished the preliminary round at 2-2 and seven points to move on to the quarterfinals.
Pätz punches playoff ticket
Switzerland's Team Alina Pätz also advanced after an 8-6 comeback victory over Japan's Team Ikue Kitazawa.
Pätz qualified with a 2-2 record and seven points.
"It felt great, especially after those two last games," Pätz said. "It was a hell of a ride. Emotions up and down, but yeah, happy we could qualify for this game."
Pätz led until the fifth end when her last rock flashed, giving Kitazawa an open draw to score four points and grab a 6-4 lead.
Although Pätz was held to a single in the sixth, she stole two in the seventh to retake the lead and swiped one more point in the eighth.
"I think we started really good in the game and then we just had some bad shots," Pätz said. "We said to ourselves we just need to play how we played at the start of the game, and we did that at the end."
It was the first loss of the week for Kitazawa (3-1), whose team had already secured a playoff berth with nine points.
The two teams will meet again in the quarterfinals.
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Earlier Friday morning, Team Eun-ji Gim (3-1, 10 points) moved into the No. 1 spot with an 8-7 win over Team You-been Park in a clash between South Korean clubs.
Gim scored two in the fifth and stole three in the sixth to lead 8-4 when Park accidentally took out her own stone.
Park missed the playoffs at 1-3 (two points).
Switzerland's Team Xenia Schwaller (3-1, nine points) advanced with a 6-5 win over Victoria's Team Taylor Reese-Hansen (2-2, six points) in the evening draw.
Reese-Hansen is still in it and will meet Japan's Team Miku Nihira (2-2, six points) in a tiebreaker Saturday morning (9 a.m. EST / 8 a.m. ABT).
Teams received three points for a regulation win (in eight ends or fewer), two points for a shootout win, one point for a shootout loss with the hammer, and zero points for a shootout loss without the hammer or a regulation loss.
Women's playoff picture
No. 1 Gim awaits the tiebreaker winner between Reese-Hansen and Nihira.
No. 2 Kitazawa takes on No. 7 Pätz in a rematch.
No. 3 Schwaller goes up against No. 6 Wranå.
No. 4 Sturmay faces No. 5 Homan.
