Undefeated Tirinzoni, Kim qualify for HearingLife Tour Challenge playoffs
GRANDE PRAIRIE, Alta. — Switzerland’s Team Tirinzoni and Team Kim of South Korea have already clinched spots in the HearingLife Tour Challenge women’s quarterfinals.
Both clubs climbed to 3-0 records during Draw 11 action Thursday at the Coca-Cola Centre.
Tirinzoni took down Canada’s Team Einarson in a wild 7-6 repeat from the Boost National final while Kim edged Canada’s Team Lawes 4-3 in a tight affair.
After giving up a steal of two in the first, Team Tirinzoni regrouped with a single in the third and a steal of one in the fourth to knot it up 2-2 heading into halftime. Skip Kerri Einarson dropped a three-ender in the fifth, however, Team Tirinzoni fourth Alina Pätz was able to match with a hit of her own to count three right back in the sixth.
Einarson was limited to a single in the seventh but misfired her last shot in the eighth — just grazing past a Tirinzoni stone — as Pätz didn’t need to throw her final rock to count the decisive deuce.
Tirinzoni and Kim clash in the final round-robin draw Friday, so only one of them will remain undefeated heading into the playoffs.
It was the first defeat for Einarson and Lawes, who both have 2-1 records and also face off in their final round-robin game.
Meanwhile, Casey Scheidegger and her Canadian club are into the win column with a 1-2 record after holding off Team Peterson from the United States 6-5. Peterson has been eliminated from playoff contention at 0-3.
Raphaela Keiser (1-2) also scored her first victory with her Swiss side stealing two in the seventh and one in the eighth for a 7-4 win over Canada’s Team Carey (0-3).
TIER 2 RESULTS
• McCarville 7, Dupont 4
• Hunkin 5, Skrlik 2
• Grandy 7, Sturmay 1
• Kelly 9, Moore 2
UP NEXT
The HearingLife Tour Challenge continues with Draw 12 at 10 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. MT airing exclusively online at 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.
