Wrana edges Cameron in extra end for second win at KIOTI National
PICTOU COUNTY, N.S. — Isabella Wranå and her squad from Sweden improved to a 2-0 record in the KIOTI National following a 7-6 extra-end win over Kate Cameron’s team Wednesday morning at the Pictou County Wellness Centre.
It was a wild back-and-forth start to the game as Wranå stole two points off the bat and Cameron recovered quickly to take three in the second. Wranå counted another couple in the third, and Cameron was held to a single in the fourth to tie it up 4-all heading into the break.
Things settled down from there but remained tight as it was singles going steady through the second half.
Wranå held the hammer in the extra frame and drew to the four-foot circle while facing a couple of Cameron’s counters to score the winning point.
Cameron, whose team is based out of Winnipeg, dropped to 0-2.
Elsewhere in the draw, Ottawa’s Team Rachel Homan, Team Kerri Einarson of Gimli, Man., and Sweden’s Team Anna Hasselborg continued their strong starts to also improve to 2-0 records.
Homan rolled out to a 7-1 rout over Christina Black’s crew from Halifax.
The 13-time Grand Slam women’s champion Homan opened the scoring with a three-ender in the second. Black scored her lone point in the third, and Homan matched with a single in the fourth then slid away with steals of one in the fifth and two in the sixth.
Einarson also earned a victory by an identical 7-1 score over Seung-Youn Ha from South Korea.
Although Einarson was forced to a single in the second, she was able to steal three points in the third to grab a fast 4-0 lead. Ha was held to one in the fourth and opted to end things early after Einarson added three more points in the fifth.
Hasselborg stole her way to a 6-3 win over Team Kaitlyn Lawes of Winnipeg.
Lawes led 3-1 after scoring three in the fourth, but Hasselborg charged back with a single in the fifth followed by back-to-back steals of two in the sixth and one in the seventh. Although Lawes retained the hammer coming home, trailing by a couple, she had to hit into a pile with her last rock of the game, but the end result was another stolen point for Hasselborg.
Black, Ha and Lawes all fell to 0-2 records.
KIOTI National: Scores/Standings | Draw Schedule | Broadcast Schedule
UP NEXT
The KIOTI National continues with Draw 6 at 12 p.m. local time (AT). Tickets are available at the Pictou County Wellness Centre box office and online at Ticketpro.ca.
Broadcast coverage begins Thursday at 11 a.m. ET / 8 a.m. PT on Sportsnet, Sportsnet+ (Canada) and GSOClive.com (international).
NOTES
The KIOTI National is the second event of the Grand Slam of Curling season featuring 16 of the top men’s teams and 16 of the top women’s teams from around the world. … Each team plays four round-robin games with the top eight advancing to Saturday’s quarterfinals. … The semifinals are also on tap Saturday with both finals scheduled for Sunday.
