By Sarah Wallace
LONDON, Ont. — Japan’s Ikue Kitazawa sealed an undefeated Grand Slam of Curling Tier 2 run with an extra-end win over Scotland’s Rebecca Morrison.
Kitazawa and her squad of Seina Nakajima, Minori Suzuki and Hasumi Ishigooka — based out of the Karuizawa Curling Club in Nagano — were named the AMJ Masters Tier 2 women’s champions after a tightly-contested 6-5 final.
“We’re so happy,” Nakajima said. “The (past) two competitions were not good. We had many meetings to say what was bad and what was good. But this was good.”
Blank was the name of the game in the first end, but Kitazawa used the hammer to her advantage in the second to secure two points with a hit-and-stick.
Morrison was able to take another two back in the third after Kitazawa wrecked on a guard on her last.
Both teams exchanged singles in the fourth and fifth ends, but Scotland stole a point in the sixth after the Japanese team came up short on their last draw.
Kitazawa fired back in the seventh with a takeout for two, but Morrison forced an extra with her last takeout to get one.
Kitazawa was able to draw to the button on her last rock in the ninth to take the inaugural AMJ Masters Tier 2 crown.
The majority of the Tier 2 competition took place this past week at the St. Thomas Curling Club in St. Thomas, Ont., before heading to the Western Fair Sports Centre for the finals.
Kitazawa finished the round robin first overall, defeating Tabitha Peterson of the United States 5-3 in the quarters and Denmark’s Madeleine Dupont 6-1 en route to the finals.
Morrison entered the AMJ Masters ranked 15th in the world, with Kitazawa ranked 16th. Both teams take home World Curling ranking points for their finals appearances.
Earlier, Danny Casper of the United States claimed victory over Canada’s Kevin Koe in the Tier 2 men's final. Canadians Rachel Homan and Matt Dunstone were the Tier 1 champs, defeating Switzerland's Silvana Tirinzoni and Scotland's Ross Whyte in their respective finals.
Canada Red also won the inaugural GSOC wheelchair invitational champions after a definitive 7-2 victory over Great Britain. Canada White rounded out the podium with the bronze, defeating Italy 5-4.
UP NEXT
The Grand Slam of Curling heads west to Nisku, Alta., for the CO-OP Tour Challenge, Oct. 14-19. The next Tier 2 event will be held at the HearingLife Canadian Open in Saskatoon, Dec. 16-21.
