Lawton tops Muirhead to earn Players’ Championship playoff berth
TORONTO — Saskatoon’s Stefanie Lawton remains perfect at the Players’ Championship following a 7-5 win over world champion Eve Muirhead of Scotland during Draw 8 action Thursday at Ryerson’s Mattamy Athletic Centre.
The defending champion Lawton climbed to a 3-0 record to secure a spot in Saturday’s quarterfinals while Muirhead slipped to 1-2 and is on the brink of elimination.
Both teams appeared to be in control of the match with Muirhead scoring a deuce in the second and stealing one in the third to go up 3-1. Lawton was forced to a single in four but a steal in two put her ahead by one. Muirhead took two in the sixth to reclaim the lead but Lawton countered with a couple in seven to pull ahead for good and tacked on a single steal in eight.
Ottawa’s Rachel Homan and Margaretha Sigfridsson of Sweden also clinched playoff berths at 3-0. The Masters champion Homan doubled up on Edmonton’s Heather Nedohin 6-3 and Sigfridsson, who earned silver at the world championship, scored a deuce in the eighth to seal a 7-5 win over Sherry Middaugh of Coldwater, Ont. Both Nedohin and Middaugh slipped to 1-2 records.
Homan is aiming to claim the GSOC Bonus Cup by completing a sweep of the two-event women’s series.
Winnipeg’s Jennifer Jones improved to a 2-1 record with an 8-5 win over Silvana Tirinzoni of Switzerland. Tirinzoni (1-2) kept pace with Jones until the seventh end when the four-time Players’ Championship winner counted three points. Jones ran Tirinzoni out of rocks in the eighth end.
Russia’s Anna Sidorova (1-1) scored a deuce in the seventh to win 5-3 over Calgary’s Shannon Kleibrink (0-3).
