Rocque rolls past Hasselborg to start National run
OSHAWA, Ont. — Edmonton’s Kelsey Rocque earned a 7-2 victory over Anna Hasselborg of Sweden in their opening game of the National Wednesday morning at the General Motors Centre.
Rocque led 2-1 through three ends and scored deuces in the fourth and fifth ends. Hasselborg was held to a single in five and shook hands after giving up a steal of one in seven.
Team Rocque third Laura Crocker said it felt great kicking off their National tournament run with a win.
“We played pretty well and it can be tricky coming out in your first game to get used to the ice,” Crocker said. “We handled it really well and picked it up quickly.”
It’s a homecoming of sorts for Crocker, who is originally from nearby Scarborough, Ont.
“I think half the stands this morning were probably from Scarborough,” Crocker said with a smile. “We had all of our parents there and people from the Scarboro Golf and Country Club, where I grew up playing, they came out to support me too. We actually went there for dinner last night so it’s nice to get back and see everybody and it’s really fun.”
Rocque is the two-time reigning world junior champion and moved up to the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling circuit this season making her series debut at the Tour Challenge Tier 1 in September.
Hasselborg fell to a 0-2 record after losing 6-1 to Ottawa’s Rachel Homan during the opening draw Tuesday night.
Elsewhere in Draw 2 action, Calgary’s Chelsea Carey ran out of time before she could throw her last rock and Kerri Einarson of East St. Paul, Man., capitalized to score three with the hammer coming home to win 6-5.
Edmonton’s Val Sweeting and Silvana Tirinzoni picked up extra-end victories. Sweeting edged Winnipeg’s Kristy McDonald 7-6 and Tirinzoni clipped Saskatoon’s Stefanie Lawton 8-7.
Glenn Howard of Penetanguishene, Ont., scored a single in the eighth end to edge American John Shuster 7-6 in the lone men’s division game on the draw.
The National is the third event and second major of the 2015-16 Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling season and runs through to Sunday evening. Previously a men’s invitational, the National has expanded this year to include a women’s field for the first time in the tournament’s history. TV coverage begins Thursday at noon ET / 9 a.m. PT on Sportsnet East, Ontario, West, and Pacific.
