NIAGARA FALLS, Ont. — Team Anna Hasselborg of Sweden and Ottawa’s Team Rachel Homan climbed to 2-0 records in the HearingLife Tour Challenge.
Both earned dicey extra-end victories during the sixth round-robin draw Wednesday afternoon at the Gale Centre. Hasselborg held on to win 6-5 over Team Kerri Einarson of Gimli, Man., and Homan slipped past Winnipeg’s Team Jennifer Jones 6-4.
It’s always a battle between Hasselborg and Einarson and this one was no exception.
Hasselborg stole two points off the hop in the opening end as she sat two close counters in the house and Einarson chipped off then rolled just too far away. The teams traded singles and Hasselborg swiped another point in the fourth end to make it 4-1 heading into the break as Einarson came up light on her last.
Einarson rallied in the sixth and capped with an open draw to score an equalizing three points. After Hasselborg was forced to a single in the seventh, Einarson had an opportunity in the eighth to draw for two, and the win, but rolled heavy for just the single that forced the extra end.
Hasselborg had to make a tough double on a staggered pair with the last rock in OT and brought the heat to bump her own and push Einarson’s counters far enough.
Meanwhile, Homan escaped with a steal in her team’s extra-end victory. Jones held the hammer but chipped off Homan’s counter and rolled away.
Stefania Constantini of Italy scored two in the seventh and stole back-to-back single points in the eighth and extra ends to edge Winnipeg’s Team Kate Cameron 7-6. Constantini climbed to a 1-1 record while Cameron dropped to 0-2.
Team Seung-Youn Ha of South Korea also drew level at 1-1 following a 7-5 win over Vancouver’s Team Clancy Grandy (0-2).
TIER 2: DRAW 6 RESULTS
• Team James Craik 9, Team John Epping 3
• Team Lukas Hostmaelingen 7, Team Sam Mooibroek 6
• Team Karsten Sturmay 6, Team Michael Brunner 2
• Team Byeong-Jin Jeong 6, Team Fredrik Nyman 5
UP NEXT
The HearingLife Tour Challenge continues with Draw 7 at 3:30 p.m. local time.
Broadcast coverage begins with Draw 10 Thursday at 11:30 a.m. ET / 8:30 a.m. PT on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+.
NOTES
The HearingLife Tour Challenge is the first Grand Slam of Curling event of the season with 32 men’s teams and 32 women’s teams in two tiers of action. Tier 1 features the top teams from around the world while Tier 2 features the next group of teams looking to move up the rankings into the top flight. … Round-robin play runs through to Friday with the top eight teams in each division qualifying for the playoffs. … The quarterfinals and semifinals are scheduled for Saturday with the finals set for Sunday.
