CALGARY — Chelsea Carey punched her playoff ticket on home ice in the Humpty’s Champions Cup at WinSport Arena.
Carey (3-1) climbed into the quarterfinals after delivering a high-pressure double bump to the button in an extra end edging Scotland’s Eve Muirhead 7-6 Friday afternoon.
“We had a tough loss early and still controlled our own fate today, which is all you could ask for,” Carey said. “It’s always going to be a battle against them and it certainly was that. We’re lucky to pull it off in the end.”
NOTE: Catch an encore presentation of Draw 12 Saturday at 9 a.m. ET on Sportsnet ONE.
Muirhead, who had already qualified with three wins, missed a chance to score three in the first with her open hit rolling just a tad too far to the edge of the house and only getting a deuce.
Carey had shot rock locked on the button in two and looked to add another, first eyeing an angle raise before opting for a draw down the narrow path, but made contact with one of Muirhead’s stones in the crowded house for just a single. Muirhead misfired a runback attempt in three to give up a steal that tied it 2-2.
The four-time Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling title winner Muirhead drew against three for a single in the fourth and Carey leaped into the lead 5-3 on a hit for three in the fifth.
Muirhead drew for one against four counters in the sixth and turned the tables in the seventh forcing Carey to draw against five. The Meridian Canadian Open champ Carey got it right on top of the button to reclaim the two-point advantage.
“Yeah, pretty intense,” Carey said. “That one against about six was not very much fun to throw but that’s your job when you’re the skip. You’ve got to make those. It was perfectly swept and again we got away with a couple there.”
Muirhead got a deuce in eight to force the extra end and looked primed to steal it by bumping and rolling in for shot rock at the back of the four-foot circle under cover, but Carey came through in the clutch.
“That one was a little bit scary to throw,” Carey said. “We thought we were in really good shape but Eve made an absolute pistol and I was like, ‘Oh my goodness!’ I was thinking I was going to have an easy shot to win. It was good to make it.”
Carey, who is originally from Winnipeg, was counting on local fan support but also had family on hand from back home arrive for the match.
“I had a whole crew here tonight, which was a lot of fun,” Carey said. “It’s really neat to watch my little nephew, ‘Go Auntie Chelsea! Go!’ It’s pretty special for sure.”
[relatedlinks]
Elsewhere in Draw 12, Kerri Einarson (3-1) moved onto the quarterfinals with a 7-4 win over Jennifer Jones (2-2) in an all-Winnipeg battle and a Scotties Tournament of Hearts final rematch. Einarson defeated the reigning world champion for just the second time in her career.
Ottawa’s Rachel Homan (2-2) squeaked into tiebreakers with a 6-4 win over Halifax’s Kristen MacDiarmid (0-4).
In men’s play, Glenn Howard (3-1) of Tiny, Ont., qualified for the playoffs defeating Jason Gunnlaugson of Winnipeg 7-5. Gunnlaugson (2-2) will play at least one more game although whether it’s a tiebreaker or in the quarterfinals will be determined following the conclusion of the remaining men’s round-robin draw.
Edmonton’s Brendan Bottcher (3-1) advanced with a 6-5 win over Niklas Edin of Sweden. The reigning world champion Edin was eliminated with a 1-3 record.
Homan faces Alina Paetz of Switzerland in an evening tiebreaker. Edmonton’s Val Sweeting also meets Delia DeJong of Grande Prairie, Alta., with the winner taking on Jones in a second tiebreaker Saturday morning.
Carey clashes with Einarson and Muirhead takes on Olympic gold medallist Anna Hasselborg of Sweden in the set women’s quarterfinals Saturday afternoon. American Jamie Sinclair and Silvana Tirinzoni of Switzerland await the tiebreaker victors.
The Humpty’s Champions Cup features 15 men’s teams and 15 women’s teams that won events over the course of the season in order to qualify for entry. Teams play four round-robin games with the top eight overall advancing to the weekend playoffs.
Round-robin action wraps up at 8 p.m. MT at WinSport Arena with coverage exclusively online at Sportsnet NOW (Canada) and Yare TV (international).