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Tippin tops Rocque in Draw 3 of BOOST National

SAULT STE. MARIE, Ont. — Julie Tippin is carrying the momentum of the pre-trials into the BOOST National.

Tippin took down Kelsey Rocque 6-4 during her first game of the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling tournament in Draw 3 Wednesday morning at the Essar Centre.

The Woodstock, Ont., team of Tippin, third Chantal Duhaime, second Rachelle Vink and lead Tess Bobbie won the second Road to the Roar qualifier Sunday in Summerside, P.E.I., to book a spot into next month’s Canadian Olympic curling trials in Ottawa.

“I think we were kind of unsure of how we were going to come out here,” Tippin said. “We’re pretty tired but we’re playing well so I’m glad we came out and got a win this morning. We’re going to go back, get some rest and we’ll be ready for our games tomorrow.”

Tippin (1-0) opened with the hammer and hit and stuck around for a deuce in the first. She added another in the second to pull away 3-0 as Rocque, from Edmonton, connected with her own guard to give up a steal.

“We’re really happy with how we started the game,” Tippin said. “We came out really strong and had a great first end, which is always important for us. It’s nice to score two.”

The two-time world junior champion Rocque (0-1) closed the gap 3-2 with a single in three followed by a steal of her own in the fourth.

Tippin bounced back with a double takeout in the fifth end to extend her lead 5-2.

The teams alternated singles back and forth in six and seven with Tippin maintaining the three-point gap without the hammer coming home. It still came down to Rocque’s last shot in eight, however, she needed a kitchen sink shot to try and get her trio but misfired.

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Elsewhere, Jacqueline Harrison (1-0) scored three in the eighth to lift her Mississauga, Ont., team to a 7-4 victory over Michelle Englot’s squad from Winnipeg (0-1).

Jestyn Murphy, daughter of Team Harrison third Janet Murphy, made her Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling debut on the club subbing at second for Stephanie Matheson.

“It was awesome,” the younger Murphy said. “I kind of zoned into the game a bit but it’s really cool to look up at all of the stands, a big arena and lots of lights. It was a ton of fun with my team.”

Binia Feltscher of Switzerland levelled her record to 1-1 with a deuce in the eighth to cap a 6-4 victory over Calgary’s Chelsea Carey (0-1).

In men’s play, Chang-Min Kim of South Korea climbed to a 2-0 record in his first Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling event trouncing Pat Simmons’ Winnipeg squad 8-1.

Kim, who will represent the host nation at the 2018 Winter Olympics, scored a deuce in the first and rolled out with steals of one in the second, three in the third and another in the fourth. Simmons (0-1) broke the shutout in the fifth and shook hands after Kim added one more point in six.

Scotland’s Bruce Mouat (1-0) doubled up on Greg Balsdon (0-1) of Kingston, Ont., 8-4.

The BOOST National is the third event and second major of the 2017-18 Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling season and features 15 of the top men’s teams and 15 of the top women’s teams from around the globe.

Round-robin play runs through to Friday with the top eight on each side qualifying for the weekend playoffs.

TV coverage begins Thursday at Noon ET on Sportsnet and online at Sportsnet NOW (Canada) and gsoc.yaretv.com (international).

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