As tense as it was Thursday, there was even more on the line Friday at the Meridian Canadian Open in North Battleford.
Six playoff spots on each of the men’s and women’s sides were still up for grabs on the B and C side, and even more teams found themselves in win-or-go-home C-event games.
Women's B qualifiers: Silvernagle, Walker, Roth advance
Three more playoff spots were decided in the 11:30 a.m. draw on the women’s side. North Battleford’s Robyn Silvernagle had another chance to punch her ticket to the quarters in her B event game versus Silvana Tirinzoni of Switzerland.
Silvernagle scored three in the third to break a 1-1 tie, and then scored four in the fifth to take an 8-2 lead, with the North Battleford fans cheering loudly.
“That was awesome, it was still a long game,” said Silvernagle of that moment. “We definitely had to keep our heads in it and not think of the outcome before it actually happened. We had to continue making shots and playing well.”
Tirinzoni only managed to get two back in the sixth end, at which point they shook hands for an 8-4 final score, advancing Silvernagle to the playoffs to the delight of the Civic Centre crowd.
It was a huge bounce-back for the team after losing to Rachel Homan the previous day.
“It was going back to our plans — our systems, I guess, for what we have been doing,” said Silvernagle in the media scrum.
Two other teams also advanced to the playoff round on the women’s side: Laura Walker defeated Satsuki Fujisawa 8-6 to move on, while Nina Roth won over Casey Scheidegger 5-4 to also advance. The losers were all sent to the C event.
Men's B qualifiers: Koe, Gushue, Howard advance
The men’s B event finals took place later in the day. Punching their ticket to the playoffs was the Kevin Koe rink who defeated Niklas Edin 7-2.
In the late game Brad Gushue also clinched a playoff spot, defeating Peter De Cruz 4-2.
The last game to be decided was between Brad Jacobs and Glenn Howard, and it was Howard who took out two Jacobs stones with his last rock to win 5-3, and clinch the third B qualifying spot.
C event eliminations:
The day started with three elimination games in the C event. Going home with three losses are Saskatoon’s Rylan Kleiter who lost to Reid Carruthers 5-3, Elena Stern who lost 7-2 to Kerri Einarson, and Isabella Wrana who lost 9-5 to Chelsea Carey.
Two more C elimination games took place in the 11:30 a.m. draw. One contest saw Jason Gunnlaugson’s team get blown out 10-2 by Regina-based Matt Dunstone, moving Dunstone into the C qualifier game on Saturday.
“I think we’re going to be very confident going into the next game,” said Dunstone. “It’s going to be a huge confidence booster for us heading into that C qualifier and we just got to make the most of our one chance.”
The other game saw Braden Calvert score three in the sixth to take command over Scott McDonald, winning 8-5 to send McDonald home.
In the 3 p.m. draw John Epping eliminated Reid Carruthers 4-3 to advance to the C qualifier final on Saturday.
In women’s play, Chelsea Carey won her latest elimination game over Darcy Robertson 7-5. Anna Hasselborg and Tracy Fleury went to an extra end, with Fleury pulling out a 6-5 win.
Jennifer Jones snapped out of her recent funk and eliminated Kerri Einarson 7-4; Einarson ran out of rocks in the eighth end.
Women's C qualifiers: Tirinzoni, Scheidegger, Carey advance
The afternoon results set up three C event final games at 6:30 pm on the women's side for the right to move on.
The first game to be decided saw Silvana Tirinzoni rebound from her earlier loss to Silvernagle, advancing with a decisive 6-0 win over Jennifer Jones to send the Jones rink to an early exit.
The winner of the Meridian Canadian Open two years ago, Casey Scheidegger, advanced with a 6-4 win to eliminate Tracy Fleury.
Finally, last year's champion Chelsea Carey won 6-2 over the Satsuki Fujisawa team to punch their ticket to the playoffs Saturday.
Men's C qualifiers: To Be Determined
The last three men’s playoff spots from the C event will not be decided until Saturday morning, after which the playoffs will begin. The C finals games will feature Braden Calvert versus Niklas Edin; John Epping against Peter De Cruz; and Matt Dunstone against Brad Jacobs.
