YORKTON, Sask. — Masters champion Val Sweeting scored two in the extra end to edge Silvana Tirinzoni 6-4 in Draw 4 action at the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling Canadian Open tournament Wednesday.
Sweeting, from Edmonton, also held off Allison Flaxey 7-6 in the morning draw and is now one win away from qualifying for the playoffs at the triple knockout tournament.
It was an intense battle between Sweeting and Tirinzoni that saw the Swiss rink open with a 3-0 lead after taking two in the first and stealing one in the second. Sweeting settled for a point in the third to get on the board and stole singles in the fourth and fifth to tie it up.
Tirinzoni blanked the sixth end but gave up another point to Sweeting in seven. Tirinzoni was limited to just one in the eighth to force the extra frame.
“The ice was curling a little bit more but once we trusted it, it was fine,” Sweeting said. “We just kind of stayed patient, kept the pressure on and luckily it worked out for us. We got some misses when we needed to.”
The “Sweeting Nation” made their presence felt in the stands with several fans cheering and shaking cowbells for Sweeting, who is originally from Redvers, Sask.
“We had a lot of fans in Camrose for the Canada Cup and I have some family in this area and friends so we definitely feel the love from the crowd so that’s exciting,” Sweeting said. “We hope they come back and fill the stands all week.”
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Elsewhere, Winnipeg’s Kristy McDonald also reached the A-side finals with a 7-2 win in six ends over Scotland’s Eve Muirhead. McDonald earned a three-ender in the second and stole two in the third to open with a five-point lead. Muirhead scored a deuce in the fourth but McDonald added another point in five and a steal of one in six.
In the B-side of the women’s division, Edmonton’s Chelsea Carey scored a decisive pair in the final end for a 7-6 victory over Flaxey’s team. Flaxey, from Listowel, Ont., dropped to the C-bracket.
Reigning world champion Binia Feltscher scored four in the seventh to break a tie and lift her Swiss rink to an 8-4 win over Regina’s Chantelle Eberle.
In men’s A-bracket action, Brad Gushue earned a 7-5 victory over Jim Cotter, from Kelowna/Vernon, B.C. Gushue snapped a 2-2 tie with a three-ender in the third and took two more points in six. Cotter scored a deuce in seven but ran out of rocks in the eighth.
Gushue’s team from St. John’s, N.L., won the men’s Masters title last month.