It鈥檚 no small feat to beat Rachel Homan twice over the span of a couple of days.
That鈥檚 exactly what Mississauga鈥檚 Jacqueline Harrison accomplished at the North Battleford Civic Centre Saturday morning as she picked up a 7-3 win over the Ottawa rink in a 鈥楥鈥� event final at the Pinty鈥檚 Grand Slam of Curling鈥檚 Meridian Canadian Open.
鈥淚鈥檓 not sure if it鈥檚 fully sunk in yet as this is our first ever playoff appearance at a Grand Slam event, but we鈥檙e really excited about what we鈥檝e accomplished so far,鈥� Harrison said.
鈥淭his certainly gives us some confidence heading into the provincials as well. We鈥檝e played the Homan rink a few times on the tour this year and they鈥檝e got the better end of the deal. It鈥檚 nice to play two really good team games against a strong rink like theirs.鈥�
Harrison, who defeated Homan by a score of 5-4 in the 鈥楢鈥� bracket Wednesday morning, also brought an end to a streak of 18 straight playoff appearances for the two-time Scotties Tournament of Hearts champions.
鈥淭here were a couple of ends that were a little bit more wide open but the general feel of the game was very similar to how things played out the other day,鈥� Harrison said.
鈥淚 need to make my last shot perfectly in the final end though. I needed to freeze my draw to the back four-foot right on her shot stone in order to leave her a tough hit. There wasn鈥檛 much else you could do in that situation.鈥�
Harrison will now play Switzerland鈥檚 Silvana Tirinzoni in the quarter-finals at 4 p.m.
Casey Scheidegger鈥檚 Lethbridge rink also clinched their first-ever playoff spot in a Grand Slam of Curling event as they earned a 9-4 win over Kelsey Rocque of Edmonton.
鈥淚t鈥檚 pretty awesome to achieve one of the goals that we鈥檝e set out for ourselves,鈥� Scheidegger said.
鈥淲e鈥檒l have a to refine our draw weight a little bit though as we get ready to play Team Jones. They are one of the best teams in the world, and you鈥檒l need to be sharp against them.鈥�
The other 鈥楥鈥� event final saw Sudbury鈥檚 Tracy Fleury hold off a late comeback bid from Michelle Englot鈥檚 Winnipeg foursome as she picked up a 7-5 win and will now play Edmonton鈥檚 Val Sweeting in the quarter-finals.
鈥淲e feel like we鈥檙e playing well after losing our first two games,鈥� Fleury said.
鈥淲e got off to a nice lead in the first few ends, which was good to have as we let things slip away a little bit at the end. We can be a little sharper with that part of our game as we head into the playoffs.鈥�
The other women鈥檚 quarter-final will see Sweden鈥檚 Anna Hasselborg take on Caledon, Ont.鈥檚 Allison Flaxey.
The men鈥檚 playoffs will begin at noon with four quarter-final matchups.
Two of the top rinks in Canada will square off with another as Sault Ste. Marie鈥檚 Brad Jacobs takes on Winnipeg鈥檚 Mike McEwen, while Saskatoon鈥檚 Steve Laycock will do battle with St. John鈥檚 Brad Gushue
The other contests will see American John Shuster facing John Morris of Vernon, B.C. and Sweden鈥檚 Niklas Edin squaring off with Edmonton鈥檚 Brendan Bottcher.
