Rachel Homan and Emma Miskew have made more Grand Slam of Curling history in Nisku, Alta.
The duo now holds the record for most GSOC titles by any curler. The longtime teammates claimed their 19th title together as they pulled out the victory over Switzerland’s Team Silvana Tirinzoni, edging out Kevin Martin’s previous record of 18 Slam victories.
With the win over Tirinzoni, Homan has started the year with back-to-back Slam titles. First at the AMJ Masters last month and now the CO-OP Tour Challenge.
But Homan wasn’t the only world No. 1 team to come away with a Slam win, as Scotland’s Team Bruce Mouat topped Canada’s Team Matt Dunstone 5-2.
It won’t be long before Mouat gets in the conversation of passing Martin either, as the Tour Challenge win marked his 11th GSOC title, fifth in the last seven events.
Sunday’s results (Full scores and standings)
Draw 21 – Women’s final
Homan 8, Tirinzoni 2
Draw 22 – Men’s final
Mouat 5, Dunstone 2
Women’s final
Sunday’s final is a day Alina Paetz would like to forget.
You may look at the final score and think Homan took advantage of the hammer every end she had it. Well, you’d be wrong. Out of her eight points, she stole seven of them.
It wasn’t like Homan and her squad played out of their minds either, Paetz just struggled all game long, especially in the first end.
After Homan made a hit to sit four, Paetz (throws skip stones) just needed to hit the nose for Tirinzoni to score a single point. Paetz slid out way inside and not even the powerful Carole Howald could save the rock, as they only hit a quarter of Homan’s stone and rolled out.
Homan couldn’t have asked for a better start, stealing four in the first end.
Tirinzoni tried to rebound in the second end and set up a deuce, but Homan and her team didn’t let that happen. As Paetz went down the ice to throw a draw, she was facing more Homan stones once again.
Paetz almost missed the draw as well, but the brakes came on just in time as Tirinzoni got on the board to trail 4-1.
Despite the deficit, Tirinzoni continued to battle, as they played a solid third end and left Homan with an open hit, but only for a single point as Tirinzoni was sitting first and second shot with no chance at a double.
This is where Homan looked to have let Tirinzoni get back into the game, as she made the hit but rolled too far to give up a steal of one, cutting the lead to two.
Homan had the option to blank the fourth end with no rocks in the house as she threw her last stone, but opted to score a single point, as she wanted to keep the hammer on even ends.
The strategy call didn’t matter, though, as Paetz’s day continued to get worse in the fifth end.
After Paetz missed her first shot by a hair, it opened the door for Homan to throw a guard with her last, leaving no draw path available for Paetz while sitting a couple as well. The only thing she could try was a takeout through one of the staggered ports.
Paetz, again, just missed the shot, as she made the hit but rolled out of the rings, and gave up another steal of one.
Even though Homan was up 6-2 in the sixth, she didn’t let up. So much so, nobody can blame Paetz for her last shot of the end, as there was nothing she could even do to score one point.
With another steal of two, Tirinzoni called it quits.
In what was their ninth meeting between the two in a GSOC final, Homan improved to 7-2 against Trininzoni.
Men’s final
Mouat started the GSOC year off by losing in the semifinals at the AMJ Masters. Mouat and his team weren’t happy with the result and wanted to make a statement at the CO-OP Tour Challenge.
That statement was delivered on Sunday vs. Dunstone.
Mouat wasted no time showing Dunstone why he is the world No. 1 as he made a perfect draw in the first end to score two, just snugging by both guards while coming through a staggered port.
It was a shot that set the tone for Mouat, and for Dunstone, one that put him on his heels.
Dunstone did earn a hard-fought point in the second end, but in the third end, it was Mouat once again applying the pressure.
Mouat was set up for at least two points, but thanks to two great Dunstone shots, including his cross-rings double with his last, Mouat had nothing left in the house and elected to blank.
And it was the right call, as in the fourth end Mouat ended up walking away with his deuce and held a 4-1 lead heading into the break.
The fifth end was where the game was decided, though. Mouat chucked a rare miss with his final stone, opening a golden opportunity for Dunstone to score three and even the game.
Dunstone just needed a hit, a hit that he had a lot of room to make, considering he could either hit it nose or anywhere between three-quarters to half a rock on the outside. The only thing he couldn’t do was hit the rock on the inside, as it would jam.
And that’s what happened, Dunstone hit the inside of the stone, leading to the jam and steal of one.
Down by four in the sixth, Dunstone was unable to generate a multiple-score end, so he elected to use his one blank.
Knowing Dunstone needed a massive score in the seventh to stay in the game, Mouat’s game plan was pretty easy.
Hit anything and everything.
But Mouat didn’t make it easy on himself while throwing his last stone. Dunstone had two stones in the top of the four-foot, but in the back were three of Mouat’s rocks, making a very easy jam available.
Mouat launched the rock with all the power in the world, and it worked. Just having enough weight to force the second Dunstone rock out the back, leading to handshakes.
Mouat started and ended the game with two statement shots that nobody will soon forget.
Next up on the Grand Slam of Curling tour is the KIOTI GSOC Tahoe, running from Nov. 4-9. It will be the first time the Slam has gone outside of Canada.
from Sportsnet.ca
via i9bet
No comments:
Post a Comment