By Kevin Snow
Scotland’s Bruce Mouat played all his greatest hits last week at the Silent Ice Centre in Nisku, Alta., saving his best for last in Sunday’s men’s final of the CO-OP Tour Challenge.
With his 5-2 win over Team Dunstone in seven ends, Mouat continues to rocket up the charts with 11 Grand Slam titles, including five of the last seven.
Mouat was hitting all the right notes early, opening the scoring with two in the first end on an absolutely diabolical draw that laid the groundwork for his game strategy.
"It was very important. We obviously wanted to get the two points head start on one of the best teams in the world at the minute. To do that, and control the game, was really important to us,” Mouat told Rock Channel’s Devin Heroux in his post-match interview. “One of the toughest draws I think we’ve made as a team over the last nine years.”
Mouat went 3-1 (nine points) in the preliminary round, losing only to Team Retornaz in their final match. They posted playoff wins over Team Gushue (9-2) in the quarterfinal and got revenge on Retornaz in the semis (5-2) to set up the date with Dunstone.
Italy's Team Jöel Retornaz reeled off three straight wins to open the prelims, finishing with a 3-1 record (nine points) to hold down third spot. They opened the playoffs with a 5-2 win over Team Schwaller and then fell victim to the Mouat buzzsaw in a 4-2 semifinals loss.
Switzerland's Team Yannick Schwaller finished sixth overall (3-1, seven points) in pool play but saw their weekend come to an abrupt end with a 5-2 loss to Team Retornaz in the quarterfinals.
Sweden’s Team Niklas Edin won three of four games in pool play (3-1, eight points), including a pair of one-score wins over Team Carruthers and Team Schwaller. Edin faced Team Dunstone in the quarterfinals and fell into a 5-1 hole at the break. Dunstone went on to win 7-2 in six ends.
After advancing to the Tier 2 semifinals at the AMJ Masters in September, Scotland’s Team Kyle Waddell finished with a 2-2 preliminary record (six points) in their first Tier 1 Slam of the season. Waddell defeated Team Muskatewitz 8-7 in a tiebreaker shootout but was eliminated in the quarterfinals with a 6-5 loss to Team Epping.
Big things were expected from Team Ross Whyte of Scotland, following their finals appearance in the AMJ Masters final last month and compiling a record of 16-3 over their last three events. Whyte started the week with a 7-6 win over Team Waddell, but went on to lose three straight to miss the playoff round.
It was another disappointing week for Germany's Team Marc Muskatewitz (2-2, six points), missing the playoffs for a second consecutive Slam. Despite losing the tiebreaker to Waddell, the German side didn’t go down without a fight. They trailed 7-3 after the fifth, then stormed back with four in the final three ends to even the score, eventually losing in a shootout.
Switzerland’s Team Marco Hösli was the only European entry in Pool C that was dominated by three outstanding Canadian teams. Hösli missed the playoffs with a record of 1-3 (three points), their lone victory being a 6-4 triumph over Team Kleiter.
TIRINZONI FALLS IN WOMEN'S FINAL
Team Silvana Tirinzoni of Switzerland were the top team in the preliminary round with a perfect 4-0 (12 points) record. They didn’t take the foot off the gas in the quarterfinals, scoring in each of the first four ends on their way to a 9-4 win over Team Wrana. They followed that up with a 7-3 win over Team Schwaller, setting up a rematch with Team Homan in Sunday’s final.
It was the third straight Grand Slam final between the longtime rivals, with Homan coming out on top at the AMJ Masters last month in London, Ont. Homan threw the first punch in this battle, counting four in the first end, eventually taking home the title by an 8-2 count in six ends to claim her record-setting 19th Grand Slam title.
This was the ninth Grand Slam final between the two, and Homan now holds a 7-2 advantage all-time.
The week also served as a coming out party for another Swiss squad, as Team Xenia Schwaller went 3-1 (nine points) in pool play, and advanced to their first-ever Grand Slam semifinal. It was a game of inches as Schwaller took down Team Stefania Constantini 6-5 in the quarterfinals. Their luck would run out in the semis when they were downed 7-3 by Tirinzoni in an all-Swiss semifinal.
In an interview with Jonathan Brazeau following their final preliminary round win on Friday, Schwaller explained how important it was for the team to get into the playoff round for the second consecutive Grand Slam.
“That was our goal coming into this season. We had a tough season last year in the Slams. We weren’t able to qualify, so that was a big goal for us to make the quarterfinals or semifinals at the Slams and especially play well like we do on tour. So far, it’s going great.”
Team Anna Hasselborg from Sweden finished second overall in pool play (4-0, 11 points), with a 6-5 shootout win over Team Einarson denying them the extra point. They defeated Team Gim 6-4 in the quarterfinals and then came out on the wrong end of a draw-to-the-button shootout in a 5-4 loss to Team Homan in the semis.
Team Stefania Constantini of Italy were a perfect 3-0 against everyone except Team Schwaller. They wrapped up the preliminary round with a 3-1 record (nine points) and then went on to lose to Schwaller for the second consecutive day with a 6-5 setback in the quarterfinals.
Sweden’s Team Isabella Wrana (2-2, six points) needed a 4-3 tiebreaker win over Team Tabata to advance to the quarterfinals, where they were steamrolled 9-4 by Tirinzoni.
