By KEVIN BERGER
Local Journalism Initiative
A Canadian team and a Norwegian team ultimately emerged as the victors of the Grand Slam of Curling (GSOC) HearingLife Canadian Open Tier 2 event, which was hosted at the Martensville Curling Club from December 16-20.
The Tier 2 finals took place at Merlis Belsher Place in Saskatoon on Sunday, December 21, alongside the championships for the Tier 1 event.
On the women’s side, Taylor Reese-Hansen’s team from Victoria, B.C., emerged as the victor after defeating Kaitlyn Lawes’ team from Winnipeg, Man.
It was a nailbiter of a final as Lawes achieved a 5-2 lead by the fifth end, forcing Reese-Hansen’s team to rack up points in the sixth, seventh, eighth and an extra end to win 6-5.
Prior to reaching the final, Reese-Hansen’s team, which includes third Megan McGillivray, second Kim Bonneau and lead Julianna Mackenzie, defeated Madeleine Dupont of Demark in the semi-finals at Martensville by a score of 5-4.
In the quarter-finals, Reese-Hansen edged out Team Serena Gray-Withers of Edmonton, Alta., by a score of 6-5.
On the men’s side, Magnus Ramsfjfell’s team from Norway defeated Switzerland’s Team Michael Brunner by a score of 9-6.
Ramsfjell had jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the match, but Brunner scored four in the fifth end to jump ahead 6-5. However, Ramsfjell’s team, which includes third Martin Sesaker, second Bendik Ramsfjell and lead Gaute Nepstad, responded with a three-count in the sixth end to reclaim the lead.
In order to advance to the final, Ramsfjell had defeated Tsuyoshi Yamaguchi of Japan 8-1 in the semi-final on December 20 in Martensville.
The Norwegian team also defeated the Regina team skipped by Kelly Knapp by a score of 6-3 in the quarter-final.
Notably, this was the first time the HearingLife Canadian Open had expanded to include Tier 2 men’s and women’s divisions. A total of 32 teams from across the world participated in the Tier 2 event.
The Tier 2 results contrasted with the results of the Tier 1 event, where two Swiss rinks — Team Yannick Schwaller and Team Silvana Tirinzoni — swept the men’s and women’s championship.
In addition to being the first Swiss sweep in Grand Slam history, it was the first time this season that both the men’s and women’s titles at one GSOC event were won by a European rink.