News Canadian Open

YORKTON, Sask. — Edmonton’s Val Sweeting scored two in the extra end to edge Silvana Tirinzoni of Switzerland 6-4 in Draw 4 action Wednesday at the Canadian Open. 

Sweeting, who captured her first Grand Slam title last month at the Masters, also held off Allison Flaxey of Listowel, Ont., 7-6 in the morning draw and advanced to the A-finals of the triple knockout preliminary round. 

The “Sweeting Nation” made their presence felt in the stands with dozens of fans cheering and shaking cowbells for Sweeting, who is originally from Redvers, Sask. 

“We had a lot of fans in Camrose for the Canada Cup and I have some family in this area and friends so we definitely feel the love from the crowd so that’s exciting,” Sweeting said. “We hope they come back and fill the stands all week.”

Tirinzoni opened up with a 3-0 lead taking two in the first and stealing one in the second. Sweeting settled for a point in the third to get on the board, stole back-to-back singles in four and five to tie it up and swiped one more in seven to pull ahead 4-3. Tirinzoni was limited to just one in the eighth to force the extra end.

“The ice was curling a little bit more but once we trusted it, it was fine,” Sweeting said. “We just kind of stayed patient, kept the pressure on and luckily it worked out for us. We got some misses when we needed to.”

Elsewhere, Winnipeg’s Kristy McDonald also reached the A-finals with a 7-2 win over Scotland’s Eve Muirhead. McDonald (2-0) earned a three-ender in the second and stole two in the third to open up a 5-0 lead. Muirhead (1-1) generated a deuce in the fourth, McDonald added another point in five and a steal of one in six for early handshakes. 

In the B brackets, Edmonton’s Chelsea Carey (1-1) scored a decisive deuce in the eighth end for a 7-6 victory over Flaxey (0-2) and reigning world champion Binia Feltscher (1-1) scored four in the seventh to break a tie and lift her Swiss team to an 8-4 win over Regina’s Chantelle Eberle (0-2).

In men’s A-event first round, Brad Gushue of St. John’s, N.L., scored three in the third and a deuce in the sixth during a 7-5 victory over Jim Cotter of Vernon, B.C.