News Tour Challenge

CRANBROOK, B.C. — Edmonton’s Val Sweeting improved to a 2-1 record in the Tour Challenge Tier 1 clipping Winnipeg’s Jennifer Jones 6-5 in an extra end during Draw 9 Thursday night.

It was the first time Sweeting defeated Jones in a Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling tournament. 

Sweeting believes her team is finally coming together with momentum on their side after missing the playoffs two weeks ago at the WFG Masters and now one win away from qualifying outright at the Tour Challenge.

“Even our first game I thought was a really good game. We just kind of let it slip away,” she said. “The girls are playing amazing, they’re on top of the ice out there and it just makes everything go smoothly.” 

After a sketchy start, Sweeting took a trip on the steal train in the second half swiping three consecutive singles in the fifth, sixth and seventh end to roll into a 5-3 lead. The reigning Olympic gold medallist Jones recovered and scored a deuce in the eighth to force the additional frame.

Sweeting held shot rock prior to her last and didn’t need to throw the final rock of the game as Jones’s draw attempt clipped one of her own rocks and spun away.

“It was interesting in the first, we were figuring out the rocks a little bit,” Sweeting said. “There was quite a big difference in curl between different ones but as soon as we figured that out I thought the girls were throwing them really good. It was just a matter of getting the broom in the right spot. We just stayed patient and took chances when we had them and I thought it was a really good battle out there.” 

Meanwhile, Switzerland’s Silvana Tirinzoni (1-2) is still in the race to defend her Tour Challenge title earning her first win by defeating Michelle Englot (2-1) and her Winnipeg-based team 7-4.

In men’s division action, Winnipeg’s Mike McEwen clinched a playoff spot at 3-0 after defeating Saskatoon’s Steve Laycock 9-3. McEwen was already ahead by one when a steal of five points in the seventh brought out the handshakes.

“We haven’t qualified so smoothly this year,” McEwen said. “The other two games we had really predictable conditions, good opponents and we played well. [Coach] Jon [Mead] hasn’t been around lately so maybe that’s the difference. We’re playing well and doing a good job managing whatever’s given to us whether it’s a difficult rock or two or the ice is changing a little bit. We’ve been more adaptable than we had in previous weeks.”

“It was a bit crazy,” he added. “Ice conditions were a bit wild: frosty, flat, a little bit warmer out there and guys were struggling. Something was different out there and it was tough to make shots, very tough.”

The six-time Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling champion McEwen said the new rocks have been interesting to learn as well.

“They obviously need to be worked, they’re brand new,” he said. “There are a lot of different stones so you have to figure that out. The ice conditions changed tonight from what they were in our previous two games so it was a bit wild out there. You had to completely forget everything you learned from the other two games to try to get through and you had to realize both teams were just going to have outright misses and you just had to grind your way through it. Getting singles was huge, an accomplishment.”

Laycock now holds a 2-1 record.

Scotland’s David Murdoch is also still in the mix picking up his first victory downing defending champion Kevin Koe of Calgary 11-5. Murdoch was up one without the hammer coming home but Koe gave up a steal of five. Both teams have 1-2 records. 

Toronto’s John Epping (1-2) picked up a 7-6 extra-end victory over Team Gushue of St. John’s, N.L. Brad Gushue is out with a hip/groin injury with Mark Nichols moving up from third to skip the squad that now holds a 2-1 record. Adam Spencer is filling in at third.

NOTES: The Tour Challenge is the second of seven events on the 2016-17 Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling schedule. … Tour Challenge action continues Friday at 8:30 a.m. MT with TV coverage resuming on Sportsnet and online/mobile on Sportsnet NOW at 1 p.m. MT. … The Tour Challenge runs through to Sunday at Western Financial Place (all Tier 1 games and Tier 2 finals) and Memorial Arena (Tier 2 games from round-robin play to semifinals).