In her first ever Grand Slam of Curling appearance, Lethbridge鈥檚 Casey Scheidegger is making quite an impression.
After defeating Rachel Homan in the 鈥楤鈥� event before reaching the playoffs, Scheidegger鈥檚 rink pulled off a stunning 6-5 upset over Winnipeg鈥檚 Jennifer Jones in the quarter-finals of the Pinty鈥檚 Grand Slam of Curling鈥檚 Meridian Canadian Open at the North Battleford Civic Centre.
鈥淲e鈥檙e just so thrilled and so happy with how everything has been going for us here,鈥� Scheidegger said. 鈥淗opefully we can keep everything rolling and playing as well as we have so far this week.鈥�
Down 4-1 after five ends, Scheidegger took advantage of some uncharacteristic misses from the 2014 Olympic gold medalist as she scored five points in the final three ends.
She sealed the win with an open draw to the eight-foot in the eighth end after Jones just missed connecting on a takeout.
鈥淪omeone called us the dragon slayers earlier but that name sounds a little bit harsh,鈥� Scheidegger said.
鈥淭here were some mistakes that we took advantage of, but it鈥檚 a great feeling for us to know that we can play right with the top teams in the world on a stage like this.鈥�
Awaiting Scheidegger in tonight鈥檚 semifinal is fellow Albertan Val Sweeting, after her Edmonton-based rink defeated Sudbury鈥檚 Tracy Fleury 7-4.
鈥淚 felt like we came out really well after having a couple of days off,鈥� Sweeting said. 鈥淲e were able to pick up on the ice, took our chances when we needed to and forced them into some difficult shots.鈥�
On the other side of the bracket, Switzerland鈥檚 Silvana Tirinzoni showed no rust after almost two days away from the Civic Centre as she picked up a 6-2 win over Mississauga鈥檚 Jacqueline Harrison.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not the easiest thing to do when you have a day off at a big event, but I was really happy with how we all played,鈥� Tirinzoni said.
鈥淲e were patient the whole game. Whenever the other team missed their shots, we were able to take advantage of those opportunities and I think that鈥檚 what made the difference today.鈥�
Tirinzoni鈥檚 opponent in the semifinal will be Sweden鈥檚 Anna Hasselborg, who rebounded from giving up four points in the second end to earn a 7-5 win over Caledon, Ont.鈥檚 Allison Flaxey.
鈥淲ith the five-rock rule, you always have a chance to bounce back quickly, and that鈥檚 what we did,鈥� Hasselborg said.
鈥淎fter that, we played a really good game, and I hope we have our one bad end out of the way for the weekend.鈥�
In addition to the two women鈥檚 semifinals, four men鈥檚 teams will battle it out for two spots in the semifinals at 8 p.m.
Sweden鈥檚 Niklas Edin will take on John Morris鈥檚 Vernon, B.C. rink, while Sault Ste. Marie鈥檚 Brad Jacobs will do battle with St. John鈥檚 Brad Gushue.
