CurlingZone: Gim upends Tirinzoni in high scoring battle at Players'

South Korea's Gim Eun-ji (Photo: Anil Mungal/GSOC) kept a direct semifinal in their grasp with an 11-9 win over Switzerland's Silvana Tirinzoni.

By: Cameron Sallaj

It was a race to double digits in Draw 13 of the Players' Championship between world silver and bronze medalists Silvana Tirinzoni and Gim Eun-ji. The Swiss side came into the game undefeated at 4-0 and looking to lock up a direct semifinal berth while the Koreans, at 3-1, needed the win to keep their chances alive.

The high scoring didn't begin right away, however, as Team Gim counted just one in the first end with the hammer. Team Tirinzoni then got two back in the second end to begin the multi-point ends.

In the third, Gim scored the first of four three points ends in the game, putting her team ahead by two. This did not last long though, as Tirinzoni counted three of their own in the fourth to give themselves a 5-4 advantage halfway through the match.

A pair of misses by Swiss fourth stone thrower Alina Paetz in the fifth end opened the door for the Koreans to draw to the rings for four points, giving them an 8-5 lead. Again, this was quickly taken away by the Swiss who had their own draw to the rings in six to tie the score at eight all.

For the first time in the game, a steal occurred in the seventh end when Gim Eun-ji did not roll far enough on her in-off attempt. This gave Team Tirinzoni a one-point lead coming home but the dangerous last rock advantage to Gim.

With her last rock in the eighth, Gim made no mistake, dispatching the Tirinzoni shot rock to count three more and lift her team to an 11-9 victory. Both teams now hold 4-1 records and will need to wait for results throughout the rest of the day to see if they earn a bye to the semifinals.

Other Draw 13 games saw Team Brendan Bottcher (2-3; Calgary, AB) end their week on a high note, downing Team Brad Gushue (3-2; St. John's, NL) 8-2. Gushue is still playoff bound with three wins while Bottcher is eliminated at three losses.

Team Joel Retornaz (3-2; Trentino, ITA) eliminated all hope for three loss teams on the men's side when they nabbed an 8-7 victory over Team Ross Whyte (3-2; Stirling, SCO). Both teams are also into the quarterfinals.

In the other women's game, Team Rachel Homan (5-0; Ottawa, ON) needed an extra end to fend off Team Satsuki Fujisawa (1-4; Kitami, JPN) 6-5. Facing one on her last, Homan's tap attempt overcurled but was still good enough to draw the side of the four-foot for the win. The world champions secured the number one seed in the playoffs while the Japanese are officially eliminated.

The Princess Auto Players' Championship continues Friday at 3:00 PM Eastern Time. On Sportsnet's featured matchup, Gimli's Kerri Einarson (1-3) looks to stay alive as they face Korea's Kim Eun-jung (3-1) who is already playoff bound.

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