Nothing like a two-win day to get you into the thick of things.
Kesa Van Osch and her Nanaimo rink of sisters Marika Van Osch, Kaila Van Osch and lead Amy Gibson, survived two close calls on Day 2 of the 2018 sa国际传媒 Scotties Women鈥檚 Curling Championship presented by Best Western at the Victoria Curling Club on Wednesday.
Van Osch edged veteran Diane Gushulak with a steal of one in the 10th for a 7-6 win in the morning, then outlasted Holly Donaldson鈥檚 Vancouver/Victoria rink 5-4 in an extra end to improve to 2-1.
Van Osch is chasing Kamloops鈥� Karla Thompson, who squeaked by Corryn Brown 鈥� also of Kamloops 鈥� 6-5 in the evening draw to sit at 3-0.
Gushulak, of Royal City, is 2-1 (along with Brown) after a 6-5 win over Kayte Gyles of Royal City. Vernon鈥檚 Kim Slattery is also 2-1 after a 9-4 victory over Randi Ludwar of Kelowna.
鈥淔inishing Day 2 with two wins is huge. It kind of keeps the ball rolling,鈥� Kesa Van Osch said. 鈥淭hey were really tight games today. Everybody is figuring out the ice, so the games should get better and better as the week goes along.
鈥淲e had a couple of not-so-great ends on our part,鈥� she said of the evening adventure in which she fell behind 3-0.
鈥淲e had a couple of key misses, but we were able to slowly weasel our way back in and claw it out.鈥�
After three blank ends, Donaldson struck for a deuce in the fourth and a steal in the sixth for the 3-0 advantage. A deuce in seven and steal in eight tied it up, and then consecutive singles forced the extra end in which Van Osch had a hit and stick for the victory.
Meanwhile, Thompson jumped out to a 3-0 lead on Brown, but watched that advantage disappear at the break.
In the pivotal 10th end, Brown tapped her own rock to sit shot, and forced Brown into a similar angle tap.
That effort narrowly missed so Thompson did not have to throw her last stone.
鈥淵ou can never count them out. They always battle hard. I gave them a couple of outs, but we pulled up our socks after the break and got the job done,鈥� said Thompson, who sits alone atop the standings.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot left to go, so you need to keep climbing the hill. It鈥檚 always nice to have wins under your belt and have people chasing you, though, for sure.鈥�
In the morning draw, Donaldson and Van Osch both recorded their first wins in tense finishes. Donaldson scored deuces in the sixth, eighth and 10th ends to take a 6-5 win over Slattery, while Van Osch stole her win away from Gushulak, who had a 4-1 lead after two ends.
Brown and Thompson both moved to 2-0 in Draw 2. Brown used a deuce in the 10th for a 5-4 victory over Gyles, and Thompson posted a three in an extra end to slip by Ludwar 7-4.
Donaldson is 1-2 in the standings while Gyles and Ludwar are both 0-3.
This morning, Gushulak plays Slattery, Brown faces Van Osch, Gyles takes on Ludwar, and Thompson plays Donaldson at 11 a.m. Draw 5 will go at 6:30 p.m.
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