Fleury tops Einarson in afternoon draw at Grand Slam of Curling’s Tour Challenge

NEW GLASGOW, N.S. – Tracy Fleury defeated Kerri Einarson 4-2 in a battle of Canadian teams Thursday afternoon at the Grand Slam of Curling’s Tour Challenge.

Einarson, the world No. 1 from Winnipeg, scored a deuce in the fourth end but was held off the scoreboard in every other end. Fleury, from East St. Paul, Man., stole a single in the seventh and ran Einarson out of rocks in the eighth end.

In other Draw 7 round-robin games, Robyn Silvernagle of North Battleford, Sask., defeated Switzerland’s Elena Stern 6-4, Edmonton’s Kelsey Rocque edged Japan’s Sayaka Yoshimura 6-5 and Switzerland’s Silvana Tirinzoni beat Sweden’s Anna Hasselborg 8-1.

Brad Jacobs of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., topped Winnipeg’s Jason Gunnlaugson 6-3 in both skips’ first game of the day. Jacobs then defeated Switzerland’s Yannick Schwaller 6-3 while Gunnlaugson defeated Regina’s Matt Dunstone 7-2.

Winnipeg’s Jennifer Jones downed Rachel Homan of Ottawa 10-4 in women’s action in the late draw. Rocque dropped an 8-6 decision to Satsuki Fujisawa Thursday night while Tirinzoni downed Team Scheidegger of Lethbridge, Alta., 9-1.

The top eight teams in each Tier 1 bracket will advance to the weekend playoffs. The event also includes Tier 2 brackets featuring lower-ranked rinks and some regional teams.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2019.