Team Hasselborg hang on to beat Team Homan in extra end at Champions Cup
REGINA — It might be Team Hasselborg minus Anna Hasselborg this week at the KIOTI Tractor Champions Cup, but lineup shuffles have been the story of the season for the Swedish squad.
With Hasselborg away on maternity leave, third Sara McManus is throwing last rocks and second Agnes Knochenhauer has also shifted a spot in the throwing order while handling skip duties as well. Alternate Johanna Heldin has slotted in at second with Sofia Mabergs rounding out the lineup in her usual leadoff spot.
Team Hasselborg had to adjust earlier in the year when McManus gave birth to her son, Mack, while Knochenhauer is also expecting a baby. It’s a learning experience but they came prepared to make it work.
“We knew it from the beginning of the season … this is like our 10th lineup for this season and it’s obviously very strange to be here without Anna,” Knochenhauer said. “She’s always been the big leader of our team but this is a good thing for us to learn as well, take responsibility and do it as a team.”
Team Hasselborg (1-2) picked up their first win this week after holding off Rachel Homan’s Ottawa team 10-8 in an extra end Thursday morning.
It looked like Team Hasselborg were comfortably in control up 7-2 after five ends thanks to a four-ender in the third.
Homan (1-1) rallied scoring three in the sixth, forcing McManus into a tough hit for one in the seventh, and then made an open hit for three more points to force the extra end.
McManus made the final shot in OT as ABBA’s “Waterloo” blasted out of the speakers.
“It feels important,” Knochenhauer said. “We had some good things going yesterday and today we really closed it, so it was really nice to get a win out of this game.”
Meanwhile, Vancouver’s Clancy Grandy downed Isabelle Ladouceur of Dundas, Ont., 7-1 with a three-ender in the fourth followed by a steal of three in the fifth.
Grandy is now at 2-1 with Ladouceur at 1-2.
In men’s play, John Shuster of the United States served up a breakfast bagel with a 6-0 set win over Regina’s own Kelly Knapp.
Shuster improved to a 2-1 record while Knapp remains winless at 0-3.
Italy’s Joël Retornaz earned his first win of the week after defeating Pat Ferris of Grimsby, Ont., 7-2. Already up by one, Retornaz (1-2) took two points in the fifth then stole back-to-back singles in the sixth and seventh to ice the game.
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Round-robin action continues at the Co-operators Centre with Draw 9 at 12 p.m. local time (2 p.m. ET).
Watch live on Sportsnet, Sportsnet NOW (Canada) and Yare (international).
NOTES
The KIOTI Tractor Champions Cup is the sixth and final Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling event of the season featuring 12 men’s teams and 12 women’s teams. … Both divisions are split into two pools of six teams for round-robin play. The best six teams overall qualify for Saturday’s quarterfinals with the top two receiving byes to the semifinals. … The finals are scheduled for Sunday.
