Swiss crew rides hot streak in Pinty's Grand Slam bubble
They were denied the Champions Cup … only because “super woman” Rachel Homan and her sidekicks stood in their way.
But there's a new mission at hand for the character crew from Aarau, Switzerland. And six days after that championship loss in the Calgary bubble, Silvana Tirinzoni and her league of Swiss curlers are proving powerful once again in Pinty's Grand Slam of Curling action.
“We're going to go hard for it,” said Tirinzoni, whose rink is just two wins away from capturing the Princess Auto Players' Championship crown at Winsport. “To win that would really be a dream come true.”
Dream away, Silvana.
For the second consecutive slam, Tirinzoni is in the mix to contend for the women's crown.
A two-win day Friday guaranteed them a spot in the playoffs.
In the morning, they blasted American Tabitha Peterson
(0-5) 10-3, and in the evening, they scored a 6-4 win over South Korea's Min-ji Kim (2-3).
Indeed, Tirinzoni & Co. are now out to avenge last Monday's 6-3 Champions Cup final loss to Homan by winning the next two games — including Sunday's finale — to claim the Players' Championship.
“It really looked like the way Rachel played, I don't know if anybody could beat her in that final,” said Tirinzoni. “The whole team played amazing — they deserved to win. And the story is very impressive — how is that even possible? She looked like she's a super woman.
“It's always kind of disappointing to lose the final — we were so close but don't get the Cup,” Tirinzoni continued. “But at the same time, we played a very good tournament and we had no time to be disappointed because we had to play the very next day. We knew if we can keep doing what we're doing at the Champions Cup, we should have a good chance in the Players' Championship.”
Homan has also made these playoffs with Tirinzoni and four other teams. And there's no need for a Saturday tiebreaker, after three earned 4-1 records — Tirinzoni, Manitoba's Kerri Einarson and Sweden's Anna Hasselborg — and three scored 3-2 marks — Homan, Switzerland's Elena Stern and Japan's Satsuki Fujisawa — to make for a perfect six-team playoff.
Tirinzoni and reigning twotime Scotties queen Einarson are the Nos. 1 and 2 seeds, so they both advance straight to the semifinals, where they await the winners of quarter-finals action. Hasselborg plays Fujisawa, while Homan faces Stern in the quarters.
Meanwhile, six-time Players' Championship queen Jennifer Jones of Winnipeg was part of the four-team 2-4 group which failed to make Saturday play.
The tournament's round robin wrapped up Friday night with results finalizing the men's side for Saturday action.
Champions Cup king Bruce Mouat, of Scotland, was already through to the playoffs with a
4-0 record heading into the late draw.
The only 3-2 men's team heading into nightcap, Ontario's Brad Jacobs was already through as well.
Saskatchewan's Matt Dunstone, Manitoba's Mike Mcewen, Newfoundland & Labrador's Brad Gushue — all at 3-1 — went into Friday night controlling their own destiny.