CHARLOTTETOWN — Canada’s Team Kevin Koe and Team Brad Jacobs claimed extra-end victories to start their runs Tuesday in the HearingLife Tour Challenge at the Bell Aliant Centre.
Koe made an open tap for three on his last to fend off Team Yannick Schwaller of Switzerland 7-4, while Jacobs drew to defeat Team John Shuster of the United States 6-5.
“Every game at a Slam is tough, so 1-0 is obviously huge,” said Tyler Tardi, who throws third for Koe. “Especially because I think they’ve arguably been the hottest team in the world right now. You definitely want to pick those ones up and take the opportunities when you can. I’m very happy to be 1-0 right now.”
Koe, Tardi and lead Karrick Martin are playing as a trio after parting ways with second Jacques Gauthier last week.
Although Tardi is throwing an extra rock and sometimes even sweeping his own, he said fatigue is out of the question at a Grand Slam of Curling event.
“It’s always easy to have energy for a Slam,” said Tardi, whose team is based out of Calgary. “Even the time change doesn’t really matter. There’s so much excitement to be here.”
Team Koe capitalized on some uncharacteristic misses from Team Schwaller fourth Benoît Schwarz-van Berkel.
With the game tied 2-2, Schwarz-van Berkel looked to make a cross-house double and score big in the fifth end, however, his shooter landed on the nose to give up a steal of one and shift the momentum. Schwarz-van Berkel jammed a double attempt in the seventh to concede another point in the seventh but scored an equalizing two points to force an extra end.
“We definitely don’t plan for those against Benoît. I don’t think he’s talked about enough as one of the best players in the world,” Tardi said. “It’s usually pretty rare you get a miss from him a game. You’ve just got to roll with those opportunities when they come to you and hope for the best.”
Team Ross Whyte beat Team James Craik 6-3 in an all-Scottish matchup.
Switzerland’s Team Xenia Schwaller stole a point in the eighth end to escape with a 7-6 victory over Sweden’s Team Isabella Wranå in the lone women’s game of the draw.
The HearingLife Tour Challenge is the first Grand Slam of Curling event of the season and features triple knockout brackets where teams must win three games before they lose three to qualify for the playoffs.
Eight teams in each division advance to Saturday’s quarterfinals. The semifinals are also set for Saturday with the finals scheduled for Sunday.
Two more triple knockout draws are on tap Tuesday with Draw 3 at 3 p.m. AT / 2 p.m. ET.
