Winnipeg’s Jeff Stoughton improved to a 2-0 record with a 7-5 victory over Thomas Ulsrud during Draw 6 action of the Grand Slam of Curling’s Masters tournament on Thursday in Abbotsford, B.C.
Stoughton broke a 5-5 tie with a deuce in the seventh and Ulsrud (1-2) couldn’t come back after he ran out of rocks in the final end.
Ulsrud, the 2010 Olympic silver medallist, held the hammer in the opening end and appeared to be in trouble early with four of Stoughton’s stones near the button. The Norwegian skip fired an incredible final shot runback to clear Stoughton’s rocks out of the house and score two.
His last stone in the second rolled too hard and Stoughton eased his own to the button to draw three. Ulsrud settled for a single in the third and stole one in the fourth to pull ahead. Stoughton regained the lead with two in the fifth and Ulsrud settled for one in the sixth.
Ulsrud’s team is known for its flashy attire and got into the Halloween spirit with jack-o’-lantern patterned pants
Masters coverage continues on Sportsnet at 3:30 p.m. ET / 12:30 p.m. PT with Eve Muirhead facing Stefanie Lawton in Draw 7 action.
Elsewhere, defending Masters champ Kevin Koe earned a 10-7 victory over Rasmus Stjerne from Denmark. Stjerne scored four in the second end and Koe got on board with three-enders in the third and fifth. Stjerne added a pair in the sixth but Koe responded with a deuce in the seventh to take the lead. Stjerne (2-1) needed a quad takeout but couldn’t pull it off and Koe (2-0) stole a pair to end the match.
Toronto’s John Epping fell 7-5 to Niklas Edin of Sweden. Epping scored two in the eighth to tie it but Edin, the reigning men’s world champion, replied with a pair in the extra end for the victory. Epping dropped to 1-2 in the tournament while Edin is now 1-1.
In women’s action, Switzerland’s Mirjam Ott defeated Latvia’s Evita Regza 7-3 in seven ends. Ott (3-0) opened the scoring with a pair in the first and stole one in the second. The two rinks exchanged singles in the third and fourth ends. Regza (0-2) closed the gap with a deuce in the sixth but Ott reclaimed the four-point lead with two in the seventh.
Winnipeg’s Chelsea Carey earned a 6-2 victory over American Erika Brown. Carey (1-1) scored deuces in the fourth and sixth ends and added a steal of one in the seventh to pick up her first win of the tournament. Brown is now 0-2 at the event.
