NORTH BATTLEFORD, Sask. — Casey Scheidegger scored two for the win in the eighth end to upset reigning Olympic gold medallist Jennifer Jones 6-5 during the Meridian Canadian Open quarterfinals Saturday.
Scheidegger advances to the semifinals in her first career elite Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling event. The Lethbridge, Alta., native has earned the “giant killer” nickname on tour this season taking three titles already and also topped defending Meridian Canadian Open champ Rachel Homan of Ottawa during the B-side of the preliminary round in this event.
“It’s great,” Scheidegger said. “At this level, to know we can compete with the top teams not only in Canada but in the world, it’s a big confidence booster for ourselves. We have [Val] Sweeting next so that’s another top team. Hopefully we can have a good game against them as well.”
The Winnipeg native Jones was up by three in the sixth and looked to make a double but didn’t get either one to go out and Scheidegger had a free pass drawing to the button for a trio to knot it up 4-4. It was a missed opportunity for Jones in seven as she already sat shot stone prior to her last, but her final rock rolled too far in the rings and she only got the single.
Jones struggled again in eight flashing on her first skip stone and Scheidegger split the rings. The six-time Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling champion Jones needed to make an across-the-house double but didn’t get it allowing Scheidegger to ease her last to the eighth-foot circle scoring the winning deuce.
“I mean, that’s curling. You get the breaks every once in a while,” Scheidegger said. “We were fortunate to get them against a team like that. We were able to capitalize, which is great for our game and we’re just happy that we’re still here.”
It’ll be a Battle of Alberta in the semis with Scheidegger facing Sweeting, of Edmonton, who secured a 7-4 victory over Tracy Fleury of Sudbury, Ont.
“It’s good for us to get some practice in with them before provincials, one last time,” Scheidegger said. “We’re familiar with each other because we do play each other quite often in Alberta.”
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Meanwhile, Sweeting opened with the hammer in her match against Fleury and landed on the lid with her last in the first to score a deuce. After the teams alternated single points, Sweeting got some separation on the scoreboard in four as Fleury looked to draw through a narrow port, hit one of the guards and spilled away to concede three points.
Sweeting didn’t ease up forcing Fleury to draw for one while facing five and matched with a point in six to retake the five-point advantage. Fleury took two in the seventh but ran out of rocks in eight.
On the other side of the bracket, Silvana Tirinzoni of Switzerland grabbed a 6-2 win over Jacqueline Harrison of Mississauga, Ont., to reach the semis. Tirinzoni jumped out to a 4-0 lead with a three-ender in the second and a steal in the fourth. Harrison was held to a single in five, stole one in six to narrow the gap but just couldn’t get back into it shaking hands after Tirinzoni added a deuce in seven.
Harrison earned a spot in the event by winning the Tour Challenge Tier 2 and qualified for the playoffs through the C-side after ousting Homan. It was the first time Homan didn’t qualify for the playoffs at a Grand Slam event through 19 appearances.
Tirinzoni will play Sweden’s Anna Hasselborg, who topped WFG Masters champ Allison Flaxey of Caledon, Ont., 7-5.
Hasselborg fell into trouble in the second and looked to bail out her team or limit the damage with a runback while facing three, but missed them all giving Flaxey a freebie draw to score four. Hasselborg bounced back with her second deuce of the game in three and stole one in the fourth to retake the lead when Flaxey crashed on a guard with her last.
Flaxey looked to tap a counter off of the button in six but didn’t push it back far enough giving up another steal. A single in seven brought Flaxey within one, but Hasselborg came through in the clutch with a double on her last to secure the victory.
NOTES: The Meridian Canadian Open is the fourth event and third major of the 2016-17 Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling season. … TV coverage continues at 8 p.m. CT with the men’s and women’s semifinals. … Winners of the Meridian Canadian Open earn spots for the season-ending Humpty’s Champions Cup taking place at the end of April in Calgary.