Sweeting, Jones and Paetz climb to 2-0 at Tour Challenge
REGINA — It was a two-win Wednesday for Edmonton’s Val Sweeting at the Tour Challenge Tier 1.
Sweeting opened her title defence at the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling event with an 8-7 extra end win over China’s Bingyu Wang during the morning and followed that up with a 6-4 victory over Ottawa’s Rachel Homan in the afternoon’s Draw 5.
Both games were dicey as Sweeting needed to steal in the eighth and the extra ends to edge Wang and led by one without the hammer coming home versus Homan, who attempted a double takeout with her last shot and connected with one counter but not the other.
“A bit of a scrappy day,” Sweeting said. “We’ll take it I guess.”
Sweeting started with the hammer and scored a deuce in the first. Homan settled for a single in three and stole one in four to tie it up 2-2 heading into halftime. Sweeting was held to one point in five.
Homan counted a couple in six to briefly take the lead before Sweeting took two right back in seven to pull back ahead 5-4.
Even though it’s the season-opening event of the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling season, it’s the third tournament already for Sweeting, who competed in the Everest Curling Challenge last month and played in the Canad Inns Mixed Doubles Championship this past weekend in Winnipeg with Brad Gushue.
“It’s a little unique start to the season but happy that we got some games in before coming here,” Sweeting said. “We felt prepared coming in because we had some ice in Edmonton in the summertime but definitely we’re happy that there’s a Slam this early, we can get some good competition in. We thought Rachel had that last one so we squeaked that one through. The girls are playing well and it’s just a matter of figuring out the ice.”
The reigning world champion Homan dropped to a 0-2 record.
Elsewhere in Draw 5, Winnipeg’s Jennifer Jones also went 2-0 on the day earning a 5-1 victory over Sherry Middaugh of Coldwater, Ont. Jones also stole in an extra end to beat Allison Flaxey of Caledon, Ont., 7-6 in the morning. Middaugh is winless with a 0-2 record.
Switzerland’s Alina Paetz climbed to a 2-0 record on the day following a 7-3 victory over Casey Scheidegger of Lethbridge, Alta. Paetz defeated Middaugh 6-4 during the morning draw. Scheidegger is even with a 1-1 record.
Silvana Tirinzoni of Switzerland thumped Michelle Englot’s Winnipeg team 10-3. It was Tirinzoni’s first game of the tournament after flight delays postponed her team’s arrival. Englot is level at 1-1.
Sweden’s Anna Hasselborg edged Tracy Fleury of Sudbury, Ont., 8-7 with a single in the eighth end. Hasselborg improved to a 1-1 record while Fleury fell to 0-2.
TIER 2
Calgary’s Chelsea Carey climbed to a 2-0 record with an 8-3 win over Saskatoon’s Stefanie Lawton (1-1).
Russia’s Anna Sidorova (1-1) scored a 9-2 win over Regina’s Chantelle Eberle (0-2).
Saskatoon’s Nancy Martin defeated American Nina Roth 6-4. Both teams hold 1-1 records.
American Jamie Sinclair (2-0) beat Team Barker, skipped by Amber Holland, 7-5. Team Barker, from Moose Jaw, Sask., is now at 0-2.
In the lone Tier 2 men’s game, Edmonton’s Brendan Bottcher scored four in the seventh and stole one in eight to complete a 7-5 comeback win over Saskatoon’s Josh Heidt. Bottcher moved up to a 2-0 record while Heidt is at 1-1.
NOTES
The Tour Challenge is the season-opening event of the 2017-18 Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling calendar and runs through to Sunday at the Co-operators Centre at Evraz Place. … TV coverage begins Thursday at 2:30 p.m. ET on Sportsnet. … Winners of the Tier 1 division receive invites to the season-ending Pinty’s GSOC event, the Humpty’s Champions Cup, running April 24-29 in Calgary. … Winners of the Tier 2 division earn berths to the following Pinty’s GSOC event, the Masters, taking place Oct. 24-29 in Lloydminster, Sask.
