News Tour Challenge

CRANBROOK, B.C. — Edmonton’s Charley Thomas scored three points in the eighth end to lift his team to a 5-4 comeback victory over Toronto’s John Epping during Draw 7 Thursday afternoon in the Tour Challenge Tier 1.

It was the first win of the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling tournament for Thomas, who improved to a 1-2 record to stay in the mix for playoff contention.

Following the spirited rebounding win, Thomas believed his 1-2 record doesn’t really reflect how his team has played so far.

“It was just a matter of a couple shots and we could easily be 3-0 right now,” he said. “It’s just kind of how curling goes.” 

Twelve-time Grand Slam winner Craig Savill is playing his first event with Team Thomas after joining the squad at lead last week. Savill was forced to step back from competitive curling last season after battling Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Thomas said it’s awesome to have Savill on his side.

“He’s been on so many good teams I can already tell he’s going to bring a ton to our game,” he said. “It’s going good so far.”

Epping (0-2) looked to make a double to score a deuce in the second end but only took out one counter and had to settle for a single to open the scoring. Thomas was forced to make a quiet-weight tap for one point in the third to tie it. Epping chipped off one of his other stones to get into the eight-foot circle and scoring a deuce in the fourth end to pull back into the lead up 3-1.

The teams alternated singles in six and seven as Thomas trailed by two points with the hammer coming home. Thomas capitalized after Epping missed a double attempt that opened up an opportunity to hit-and-stick for the winning three points.

“We knew that if we managed to make eight shots we’d have a good shot at getting two points,” Thomas said with a smile. “You never think to get three against a team like that.” 

Elsewhere in Draw 7, Winnipeg’s Mike McEwen moved up to a 2-0 record with a 6-3 win over Edmonton’s Brendan Bottcher (0-2).

Brad Jacobs (1-1) of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., held off Scotland’s David Murdoch 8-5. Jacobs smashed a 2-2 tie with a huge five-ender in the fifth. Murdoch (0-2) bounced back with a deuce in six and stole one in seven as Jacobs threw hard with his last but missed the counter and clipped out his own stone behind it instead. Jacobs iced it in the eighth tacking on one more point. 

In women’s division action, Calgary’s Chelsea Carey (1-2) stole a 6-2 victory over defending champion Silvana Tirinzoni of Switzerland. Tirinzoni (0-2) stole a single to start but Carey knotted it up in the second, swiped back-to-back singles in the third and fourth and grabbed two more points in the fifth. The teams traded singles in six and seven.

Japan’s Ayumi Ogasawara (1-2) is still in play after a commanding 8-2 victory over Winnipeg’s Kerri Einarson (0-2). Ogasawara took two in the third, stole two in the the fourth, held Einarson to a point in five and then close things out early drawing for a score of four points in six.

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 Thursday at 4:30 p.m. MT on sportsnet.ca. … 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).