By Jonathan Brazeau
MEDICINE HAT, Alta. — A double shootout!? What does it mean?
For the first time this season in the Grand Slam of Curling presented by Molson Canadian, a second round was required in a draw-to-the-button shootout between Sweden’s Team Anna Hasselborg and South Korea’s Team Eun-ji Gim on Thursday afternoon at the P&H Masters.
After the skips pinned their draws, both teams had to choose a different shooter — and only one sweeper — for the rare Round 2.
Team Gim lead Ye-eun Seol drew to the top of the eight-foot circle, and Team Hasselborg lead Sofia Scharback's shooter held onto the back of the four-foot circle to secure the 7-6 victory.
It’s not often a lead throws a shot for the win, but welcome to the wonderful world of shootouts.
"Honestly, I didn't even know the rule about the double shootout," Scharback said. "I was like, 'Oh yeah, well I can throw, I guess.' That was a lot of fun."
The two-time Olympic gold medallists Team Hasselborg (2-1, five points) are in the mix for playoff contention after opening the week with a 7-5 loss to Japan’s Team Satsuki Fujisawa on Tuesday and earning a 9-7 win over South Korea’s Team You-been Park on Wednesday.
They're also third in the last stone draw challenge standings among teams still in contention, giving them more leverage when it comes to qualifying and seeding. Hasselborg plays Canada's Team Selena Sturmay (2-1, five points) on Friday afternoon.
"The first game we were not really where we wanted to be, so I feel the second game, the energy was there," Scharback explained. "We had a lot of fun out there. We played the scoreboard, and we managed to get the points where we wanted to, and I think this game was kind of the same. Obviously, very hard opponents, so to come out with a win here is super important."
Since Gim (2-1, seven points) held the hammer for the shootout, she still earned one point for the loss, which was good enough to help qualify her team for the playoffs.
Gim is one of three who punched an early playoff ticket, with Japan's Team Ikue Kitazawa (3-0, nine points) and Sweden's Team Isabella Wranå (2-1, seven points) also securing their spots on Thursday.
Kitazawa defeated Canada's Team Serena Gray-Withers 8-5 to keep her unbeaten record intact, and Wranå won 7-3 over Japan's Team Satsuki Fujisawa in the morning draw.
Schwaller in the driver’s seat
Switzerland’s Team Xenia Schwaller cruised past Japan’s Team Miku Nihira 10-2 in Thursday's late afternoon draw.
Schwaller was in complete control of the 2024 world junior final rematch, converting for a deuce in the first, then stealing away with three in the second, two in the third and three more in the fourth.
Nihira took two in the fifth, then shook hands.
“We controlled the whole game,” said Schwaller, who won gold at the women’s worlds last season. “Every position was better than our opponents, so we felt good.”
Xenia’s cousin Yannick Schwaller sat on the coaches’ bench during the match.
“It's really nice. I asked him if he could come and sit on the bench to watch us a little bit. Obviously, he watches on TV, but it's different when he's here, and we can learn so much from him,” Xenia said. “I think at the moment he's the best skip in the world, so it was really cool to have him on the bench.”
It’s hard to argue against that when Yannick holds the No. 1 ranking in the world and just won his second Grand Slam men's title two-and-a-half weeks ago at the Co-op Invitational.
As for Xenia, her team is No. 2 in the women’s rankings but entered the week after going 0-3 through the RBC Dominion Securities Western Showdown in Swift Current, Saskatchewan.
“Yeah, we had to shake it off. We're, to be honest, not used to not qualifying in an event. It was the first time in a club tournament that we didn't qualify for three years," she said.
“Maybe we needed that. We had to be more precise, come out sharper, and that's what we're doing right now. It's in the past, it happens, but now we look forward to continuing how we play right now.”
Schwaller (2-1, six points) is on the cusp of qualifying for the playoffs with a matchup against Canada's Team Taylor Reese-Hansen (2-1, six points) on tap Friday evening to wrap up the preliminary round.
Nihira (1-2, three points) is still holding on for a slim chance at qualifying but faces Team Mina Kobayashi (1-2, three points) in an all-Sapporo showdown Friday morning.
Shot of the day
Two people you should never tell the odds to: Han Solo and Kerri Einarson.
After conceding a point in the seventh against Switzerland's Team Alina Pätz to trail 4-3 but retain the hammer coming home, Einarson needed to make a long angle raise takeout to score the tying single and force a shootout.
Big Shot Kerri came through in the clutch, nailing the runback from downtown Medicine Hat to keep the game alive.
Einarson (1-2, two points) then upended Pätz in the shootout to get her Canadian club into the win column with the 5-4 decision.
