SASKATOON — Team Anna Hasselborg came from behind to beat Team Isabella Wranå 9-5 in an all-Swedish showdown during Draw 8 Wednesday night at the WFG Masters.
Hasselborg improved to 2-0 at the midway mark of round-robin play while Wranå is even at 1-1.
It was a special day for Team Hasselborg as third Sara McManus celebrated her 33rd birthday while lead Sofia Mabergs, who now lives in Saskatoon, had a supporter’s section in the stands. Even compatriots Team Niklas Edin were seated in the front row to watch the “Swedish derby.”
Hasselborg had been looking forward to the WFG Masters because she had missed the previous Grand Slam of Curling event held at the venue in 2019 while she was off winning the world mixed doubles championship.
“Playing here in Saskatoon is amazing,” Hasselborg said. “Saskatchewan is a very knowledgable crowd. We really love to be here. I missed the last Slam that was here in Saskatoon a few years back and the girls have told me how great it was and how great the ice and crowd and everything was. I’m really just trying to enjoy everything and we’re having tons of fun.”
Trailing 4-2 at the break, Hasselborg took control in the second half, pulling off a tough double takeout while avoiding her own stone in the house to score a single in the fifth end.
Hasselborg put the pressure on in the sixth end, sitting three tight stones that tempted Wranå into going for a tricky triple and possibly scoring two. That didn’t go as planned at all as Wranå not only missed one Hasselborg stone completely but also jammed to give up a steal of two and fall behind 5-4.
Hasselborg said the key to the end was “just keeping our own rocks in play and make her throw something hard on her last.”
“We were really a little bit lucky to get a two there but it lined up pretty well for us,” she said.
Wranå had to settle for an equalizing single in the seventh and Hasselborg just needed to make an open hit with the last rock of the game in the eighth that added four points on the board for good measure.
“They played really well and it was a huge battle out there,” Hasselborg said. “We said that the goal was to come home with the hammer in the eighth and we managed to do that. It was a great game.”
Elsewhere in Draw 8, Ottawa’s Team Rachel Homan also climbed to 2-0 with a 7-3 win over Team Silvana Tirinzoni of Switzerland.
Homan broke a 1-1 tie by stealing two points in the third and swiped back-to-back singles in the fourth and fifth to cushion the lead. Tirinzoni (1-1) recovered with a deuce in the sixth, but Homan matched right back with a pair in the seventh and out came the handshakes.
Meanwhile, Winnipeg’s Team Kaitlyn Lawes and Vancouver’s Team Clancy Grandy picked up their first wins of the tournament.
Lawes (1-1) beat Team Eun-Jung Kim of South Korea 6-5 and Grandy (1-1) topped Team Rebecca Morrison from Scotland 4-3.
Both Kim and Morrison fell to 0-2 and are now in must-win mode to stay in playoff contention.
UP NEXT
The WFG Masters resumes Thursday with Draw 9 at 9:30 a.m. ET / 8:30 a.m. local time at Merlis Belsher Place.
Broadcast coverage begins Thursday with Draw 10 at 1 p.m. ET / 12 p.m. local time on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+ (Canada).
NOTES
The WFG Masters is the third Grand Slam of Curling event of the season featuring 16 of the top men’s teams and 16 of the top women’s teams from around the world. … Round-robin play runs through to Friday evening. The top eight teams in both divisions advance to Saturday’s quarterfinals. If necessary, tiebreakers will be played Saturday morning to determine the final playoff spots. … The semifinals are also scheduled for Saturday with both finals on tap Sunday.
