SELKIRK, Man. — Glenn Howard made no mistake driving his final stone into the house for shot rock to defeat reigning world champion Thomas Ulsrud 5-4 during Draw 3 action Wednesday afternoon at the Masters Grand Slam of Curling.
Howard, of Penetanguishene, Ont., scored deuces in the third and fifth ends to lead 4-2 before Ulsrud, from Norway, replied with two points of his own in the sixth to tie it up. Howard blanked the seventh to retain the hammer coming home.
“Obviously the first game of any bonspiel you’re never sure of anything,” Howard said. “The ice was fantastic and that’s what the players want to see. It was consistent, a good curl and the speed was great throughout the game and that just makes the shot-making great. My guys played terrific and we snuck out a win against Thomas.”
It was also the Grand Slam of Curling return for Richard Hart, who came out of retirement at the start of the season to return to third on Team Howard.
“We had 10 years together and had a lot of success over those years and I was sorry to see him leave three years ago,” Howard said. “Obviously had some great years with Wayne Middaugh and I was sorry to see him go too so with that being said, when Wayne couldn’t play, the best one to come back was Richie so it’s great to have him back.”
Elsewhere, Saskatoon’s Steve Laycock earned a deuce in the final end to edge Sweden’s Niklas Edin 6-5.
Sven Michel scored two in the fifth and stole singles in three consecutive ends to top Peter de Cruz 6-2 in an all-Swiss rink match.
In women’s action, Ottawa’s Rachel Homan rallied back with a steal of two in the extra end to defeat Switzerland’s Alina Paetz 7-5.
Homan, the two-time defending Masters champion, fell behind early 4-0 after giving up double steals in the second and third ends. The Ottawa rink settled for a single in the fourth to get on the board and stole one in the fifth to close the gap 4-2.
Paetz replied with a single in the sixth. Homan earned a deuce in the seventh and stole one in the eighth to tie it 5-5 and send it into the extra end.
Russia’s Anna Sidorova scored one in the sixth and stole two in the seventh to lift her team over Allison Flaxey’s rink from Listowel, Ont., 6-3 in seven ends. Team Flaxey now holds a 1-1 record after upsetting Winnipeg’s Jennifer Jones in Draw 1.
The Masters continues with Draw 4 Wednesday afternoon at 5:30 p.m. ET / 4:30 p.m. CT.
