Team Mouat rounding back into form at HearingLife Tour Challenge
GRANDE PRAIRIE, Alta. — Bruce Mouat and his Scottish side are getting back into their groove at the HearingLife Tour Challenge.
The five-time Grand Slam champion Mouat missed the playoffs during the Boost National two weeks ago in North Bay, Ont., with a 1-3 record but is off to a 2-0 start this time out at the midway point of preliminary play.
Team Mouat took down Canada’s Team Epping 9-1 in six ends during Draw 6 action Wednesday afternoon at the Coca-Cola Centre.
Mouat, who was practically perfect shooting 98 per cent, made a raise takeout to count three points in the second to open the scoring and put the pressure on Epping early into the match.
After singles back and forth, Epping missed on a risky shot to give up two points in the fifth end and shook hands after conceding three more in the sixth.
Team Mouat second Bobby Lammie is still nursing a broken hand but is sweeping rocks again after handling the majority of house duties during the Boost National.
Canadian teams skipped by Matt Dunstone, Brad Gushue and Reid Carruthers also all improved to 2-0 records.
Dunstone hit for three in the third and fourth in the fifth during a 9-5 victory over Switzerland’s Team Brunner, Gushue grabbed a three-count in the seventh to double up on Scotland’s Team Whyte 8-4 and Carruthers stole four in the sixth to defeat Team Horgan 7-2 in an all-Canadian clash.
TIER 2 RESULTS
• Stocker 8, Gauthier 6
• Hoestmaelingen 6, Webb 4
• Sluchinski 6, McEwen 4
• Kleibrink 6, Shuster 3
UP NEXT
The HearingLife Tour Challenge continues with Draw 7 at 4 p.m. MT.
Broadcast coverage begins Thursday at 2 p.m. ET / 12 p.m. MT on Sportsnet, Sportsnet NOW (Canada) and Yare (international).
NOTES
The HearingLife Tour Challenge is the second event on the 2022-23 Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling calendar with two tiers and a total of 64 teams. Both tiers feature 16 men’s teams and 16 women’s teams. … Round-robin play runs through to Friday as teams play four games against opponents outside of their pool. … The top eight teams overall advance to Saturday afternoon’s quarterfinals. The semifinals are set for Saturday evening with both finals on tap for Sunday.
