TORONTO – Team Eunji Gim of South Korea and Team Silvana Tirinzoni of Switzerland have reached the semi-finals of the Princess Auto Drivers' Championship.
Gim eliminated Team Anna Hasselborg of Sweden 8-7 and Tirinzoni beat Team Eun-Jung Kim of South Korea 6-3 in the women's quarterfinals on Saturday at the Mattamy Sports Center.
Tirinzoni will play No. 1 seed Rachel Homan, whose Ottawa-based team tops the group at undefeated 5-0, and Gim will meet Team Isabella Wranå (4-1) of Sweden in the evening draw .
Gim and Tirinzoni also posted a 4-1 record thanks to pool play, however, Wranå earned a bye based on a draw total.
Although Gim got off to a fast start against Hasselborg, scoring four goals in the opening frame, the match still went to extra time – and almost needed a second extra period to resolve it.
Gim just needs to hit and hang on to the final rock of the match to secure a place in the semi-finals. Easier said than done, of course. After connecting, Gim's shooter almost rolled out of the house but got stuck at the edge of the 12-foot circle.
Hasselborg led 7-4 after five innings and had a chance to tie it with a hit in the sixth, however, her shooter rolled out and clipped one of her rocks along the way to only received one pill.
Seven-time Grand Slam champion Hasselborg was able to erase the deficit. Gim took down a guard with her final shot in seven and was too tight on Hasselborg's shot in eight to give up consecutive steals and force OT.
Meanwhile, Tirinzoni took an early 3-0 lead with a loss in the first period, followed by a steal in the second. Kim faced a triangle of counters and attempted to double down, hitting the outside stone but unable to connect with the remaining one to give up the steal.
Kim won two points in the third period to get on the board and force Tirinzoni's fourth-team Alina Pätz to tie for a point in the fourth period. After back-and-forth singles at five and six, Kim looked empty but completely missed Tirinzoni's only rock in the house to fall three behind.
NEXT
Team Brad Gushue of St. St. John's, NL, will take on Team Ross Whyte of Scotland and Team Niklas Edin of Sweden take on Team Joël Retornaz of Italy in the men's quarterfinals. Team Mike McEwen of Saskatoon and Team Bruce Mouat of Scotland await the winners.
Watch the men's quarterfinals live at 3:30pm ET / 12:30pm PT on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+.
