GRANDE PRAIRIE, Alta. – Sweden’s Edin team, minus Niklas Edin, qualified for the HearingLife Tour Challenge Men’s Championship match despite losing their captain to a knee injury just before their semi-final clash against Canadian team Gushue Saturday night.
Third Oskar Eriksson stepped in to deliver the final rocks and, with lead Christoffer Sundgren and second Rasmus Wranå, they continued as a trio.
The “tre kronor” shone as they stole a run in the extra end to edge Brad Gushue’s team of St. John’s, NL, 6-5 at the Coca-Cola Centre.
“It came out of nothing,” said Eriksson, who shot 83%. “We were so surprised it happened, but we know he had a problem with the tendon behind his knee a few years ago. Hopefully it’s not bad and we’ll see if he can play tomorrow and if not, maybe next week.
Eriksson knew the match was going to be very tough against 14-time Grand Slam champion Gushue and just wanted to give their best.
“We just said to ourselves try to play well, keep it tight, maybe we can score a couple of goalless ends with the hammer early on, but they came our way from the start,” Eriksson said. “We just had to take a lot of shots.”
Luckily the other Swedes from Team Hasselborg were at the edge of the rink cheering them on for their moral support as well as helping to keep the mood relaxed and relaxed.
“It was fun,” Eriksson said with a smile. “I got a little nervous when I realized I had to jump now, but they were joking with me. That helped.
Team Edin have won three men’s Grand Slam titles together and finished second to Team Gushue just two weeks ago in the National Boost.
Edin is questionable to feature in Sunday’s final against Matt Dunstone’s side, who beat Kevin Koe’s side 7-2 in an all-Canadian clash.
Dunstone won the Masters in 2019, but this is his first Grand Slam of curling Pinty’s final with his new Winnipeg-based roster of third BJ Neufeld, second Colton Lott and lead Ryan Harnden.
“It’s great,” said Dunstone, whose team finished second earlier this season at the PointsBet Invitational. “We improved every game this week. We’ve had a pretty solid season so far, the second final of the year. We came in second from the first, so hopefully we can finish it tomorrow.
Dunstone charged out of the gate scoring a deuce in the first inning and stealing one in the second for an early 3-0 hold. Leading 4-2 in the sixth, Dunstone had a spectacular shot to score three more points.
“We had control of the whole game,” said Dunstone, who shot 89%. “The guys played well. It was definitely our strongest game at this point, top to bottom.
“I’m really proud of the guys. I struggled a bit early this week but they got me hooked and I was able to give them some good ones today.
Team Rachel Homan and Team Kerri Einarson will face off in the women’s final of the HearingLife Tour Challenge.
Homan beat Sweden’s Isabella Wranå 10-6 and Einarson edged South Korea’s Eun-Ji Gim 4-3.
Meanwhile, Team Korey Dropkin from the United States will face Team Canada Aaron Sluchinski and Team Canada Clancy Grandy will face Team Canada Jessie Hunkin in the Tier 2 Finals. Winners receive promotions to join the elite of the Canadian Cooperative Open, from January 10 to 15, in Camrose, Alta.
Dropkin beat Canadian team Felix Asselin and Sluchinski stopped Canadian team Kody Hartung by identical scores of 5-2 while Grandy beat Canadian team Kerry Galusha 8-5 and Hunkin stopped Canadian team Christina Black 5-4.
The men’s finals kick off the championship on Sunday at 11:30 a.m. ET / 9:30 a.m. local time on Sportsnet, followed by the women’s final at 3:30 p.m. ET / 1:30 p.m. local time on Sportsnet ONE and Sportsnet 360.
Stream the finals on Sportsnet NOW (Canada) or Yare (international).
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