Sinclair qualifies for Tour Challenge Tier 2 playoffs
REGINA — Jamie Sinclair was a little nervous while making her last shot Thursday against Stefanie Lawton in the Tour Challenge Tier 2 event.
Sinclair had already given up a steal in the sixth that tied it up and was drawing for the win while facing a covered counter in the house.
It turned out Sinclair had nothing to worry about at all as the rock stopped right on the button for the 3-2 victory.
“My sweepers knew they had it but out of my hand I thought I was light, so I was a little bit nervous,” Sinclair said with a smile. “I was yelling [but] landed on the pin.”
Sinclair, third Alexandra Carlson, second Vicky Persinger and lead Monica Walker moved up to a 3-0 record and were the first to qualify for the Tier 2 playoffs. The Blaine, Minn., based team hasn’t been too concerned about the big picture, however, and has just been looking at the task at hand each game.
“I haven’t really thought about it a ton,” Sinclair said. “We’ve just been focused on every game one at a time because going into this we thought we had a really tough pool. We really didn’t want to get ahead of ourselves, so we’ve just forgotten the overall rankings of every team, including ourselves, and just being like, ‘Okay, this game: What do we have to do to win?’”
Team Sinclair has one round-robin game remaining Friday against Chelsea Carey’s Calgary-based crew.
The Tier 2 men’s and women’s divisions each feature 10 teams from the World Curling Tour’s Order of Merit (after the Tier 1 field has been finalized) plus five local teams from within Saskatchewan. Winners of the Tier 2 division fast-track up the ranks to face the elite by earning berths to the following Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling event, the Masters, running Oct. 24-29 in Lloydminster, Sask.
Elsewhere in Draw 7, Russia’s Anna Sidorova edged Scotland’s Hannah Fleming 4-3 while China’s Rui Liu topped Carl deConinck Smith 5-2 in men’s play.
Round-robin action continues through to Friday at the Best Western Arena with the playoffs set for the weekend. Both men’s and women’s Tier 2 finals will be played alongside their Tier 1 counterparts Sunday on the main rink at the Co-operators Centre.
Draw 8 roundup
Defending Tier 2 champion Greg Balsdon (2-1) counted three in the sixth during a 6-4 victory over Dayna Deruelle in a battle of Kingston, Ont., teams. Deruelle has been eliminated from playoff contention with a 0-3 record.
Saskatoon’s Josh Heidt (2-1) defeated Jason Ackerman (0-3) of Regina 7-3. American Craig Brown (2-1) squeaked out with a 5-4 win over Saskatoon’s Jason Jacobson (0-3).
Edmonton’s Kelsey Rocque (1-2) is still in it after edging Calgary’s Chelsea Carey 6-5. The 2016 Scotties Tournament of Hearts champion Carey holds a 2-1 record.
Calgary’s Nadine Scotland also picked up her first win scoring four in the fourth in a 7-4 victory versus Saskatoon’s Nancy Martin. Both teams are at 1-2.
Draw 9 roundup
Saskatoon’s Stefanie Lawton held on to win 6-5 over Team Barker, skipped by Amber Holland, of Moose Jaw, Sask.
Lawton, the 2012 Players’ Championship winner, opened with a single in one and stole two in the second to lead 3-0 before Holland matched with identical scores in three and four to tie it. Lawton (2-2) got three in the sixth, held Holland (0-3) to one in seven and gave up a point in eight to seal the victory.
Switzerland’s Binia Feltscher came back big time to defeat Chantelle Eberle of Regina 9-4. Eberle scored all four of her points in the first half and Feltscher, a two-time world champion, rebounded with three in the fifth followed by back-to-back steals of three in the sixth and seventh ends.
Feltscher earns a playoff berth at 3-0 while Eberle, whose team finished runner-up in the 2015 Tour Challenge Tier 2, has been eliminated from contention at 0-3.
Scotland’s Hannah Fleming took down Robyn Silvernagle of North Battleford, Sask., 4-2. Fleming finishes round-robin play at 2-2 while Silvernagle (1-2) must win her last.
EunJung Kim of South Korea improved to a 2-1 record with a 7-2 win over American Nina Roth (1-2).
In the lone men’s division game, Edmonton’s Brendan Bottcher (3-0) has punched his playoff ticket after scoring four in the seventh to close out a 9-3 win over Adam Casey’s Regina team (1-2).
Draw 10 roundup
Edmonton’s Charley Thomas (2-1) shut out Regina’s Jason Ackerman 6-0.
Ackerman is out with a 0-4 record.
Jason Gunnlaugson (3-0) qualified for the playoffs by cruising to a 6-1 victory over William Lyburn (2-1) in an all-Winnipeg team affair.
Scotland’s Greg Drummond (1-2) defeated Saskatoon’s Jason Jacobson 3-2 to stay in the playoff chase. Jacobson is finished at 0-4.
Carl deConinck Smith of Rosetown, Sask., has qualified for the playoffs with a 3-1 record after beating Saskatoon’s Colton Flasch 5-3. Flash sits at 1-2 and needs to win his remaining round-robin game.
Calgary’s Nadine Scotland (2-2) scored a 5-4 victory over Kerri Einarson (2-1) of Winnipeg. Einarson won the inaugural Tour Challenge Tier 2 in 2015.
