BC's Team Grandy beat world champs to claim first win on Tour
Published
It didn't take long for Clancy Grandy to find success with her new team out West.
The 31-year-old native of Burlington, Ont., had spent her entire curling career playing in Ontario before joining a promising young rink out of Vancouver, B.C., as an import this season.
Team Grandy, featuring third Kayla MacMillan, second Lindsay Dubue and lead Sarah Loken, hammered Silvana Tirinzoni's mighty Swiss rink, 7-1, in the final of the Curling Stadium Martensville International Monday night in Saskatchewan.
Grandy scored a deuce with hammer in the opening end before picking up steals of one in each of the next three ends as Tirinzoni shook hands after just six ends.
Grandy's rink won seven of their eight games in Martensville, including an earlier round robin win over Team Tirinzoni and a 7-5 quarterfinal victory over Jennifer Jones and her new Manitoba-based team. Team Grandy's lone loss came against Team Jones in preliminary round play.
The Martensville International had a total purse of $25,000 with $10,000 going to Team Grandy.
This was the second week in a row Grandy and company squared off against the Swiss rink in a bonspiel final. At the Summer Series event in St. Felicien, Que., Team Grandy dropped a 6-4 decision in the final to Team Tirinzoni, a top tier foursome who have won the past three World Women's Curling Championships.
Team Grandy is now 18-4 on the season after two events.
Last season, MacMillan, 24, skipped Jody Maskiewich, Dubue and Loken to the BC Scotties final where they lost a heartbreaker to veteran Mary-Anne Arsenault.
With the experience of Grandy, who has curled in the top circuit for over a decade, now in fold, this foursome could be the early favourites to win the province and qualify for the 2023 Scotties Tournament of Hearts which will take place in Kamloops, B.C., from Feb. 17-26.
Elsewhere, Team Jones have qualified for the playoffs in each of their two events this season while Chelsea Carey defeated Nancy Martin in the other Martensville quarterfinal. Team Carey lost 10-3 to Team Tirinzoni in the other semifinal.
The Swiss didn't go home empty handed, however, as Geneva's Team Yannick Schwaller scored a single in the extra end to edge Japan's Team Riku Yanagisawa, 6-5, in the Martensville International men's final.
Team Schwaller, which now feature Benoit Schwarz at fourth, Sven Michel at second and Pablo Lachat at lead, went 6-1 over the five-day event, highlighted by wins over Team Kody Hartung in the quarters and Mike McEwen's new team in the semis. Team Colton Flasch won their first five games before dropping the other semifinal clash to Team Yanagisawa. Toronto's Team John Epping fell short of the playoffs with a 2-3 record.
The men's event had a $22,250 purse with $10,000 going to the winners.