Paetz spoils Middaugh’s chances at Masters
TRURO, N.S. — Reigning world champion Alina Paetz of Switzerland ended her Masters tournament on a high note with a 5-4 victory over Sherry Middaugh of Coldwater, Ont., during Draw 11 Friday afternoon.
Paetz played the spoiler picking up her first and only win as both teams missed the playoffs with 1-3 records.
“I think it was the best game we had this week here,” Paetz said. “We struggled the last three games with key shots. This time we did it and got a bit lucky because there were some key shots they missed.”
Tied 3-3 through five ends, Paetz pulled ahead with a steal of two in the sixth. Middaugh had a chance to score three in the seventh to climb into the lead, but jammed Paetz’s stone that stuck around for second shot and only scored a single.
Meanwhile, Silvana Tirinzoni of Switzerland thumped EunJung Kim of South Korea 8-1. The inaugural Tour Challenge champions Tirinzoni qualified for the playoffs with a 3-1 record.
Tour Challenge Tier 2 winner Kerri Einarson of East St. Paul, Man., wrapped up round-robin play with a 2-2 record beating Switzerland’s Binia Feltscher 6-4 in the extra end. Feltscher was eliminated at 1-3.
Tracy Fleury, of Sudbury, Ont., defeated Sweden’s Margaretha Sigfridsson 8-3. Neither Fleury (1-3) nor Sigfridsson (0-4) qualified.
On the men’s side, Norway’s Thomas Ulsrud also played the spoiler defeating Edmonton’s Brendan Bottcher 10-7 with a three-ender coming home. Both rinks finish with 1-3 records.
The Masters is the second stop on the 2015-16 Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling tour and runs through to Sunday at the Rath Eastlink Community Centre.
