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Michelle Englot ousted from playoff contention at curling Masters

After being eliminated from playoff contention Thursday night at curling’s Masters, Val Sweeting turned around Friday morning and continued her mastery of Michelle Englot, prevailing 8-4 to keep the 2017 Scotties silver medallist out of quarter-final play.

Manitoba skip falls 8-4 to nemesis, spoiler Val Sweeting in Saskatchewan

Doug Harrison · CBC Sports ·
Michelle Englot will leave the Grand Slam of Curling Masters tournament wondering how to get the upper hand on her nemesis, fellow skip Val Sweeting. After being eliminated from playoff contention Thursday, Sweeting knocked out Englot with a 8-4 win Friday morning to continue her mastery of the 2017 Scotties silver medallist. (Courtesy Twitter/@worldcurltour)

Val Sweeting must be chomping at the bit for a matchup with fellow skip Michelle Englot when it matters most.

After Sweeting was eliminated from playoff contention at curling's Masters on Thursday night, the Edmonton native turned around and played spoiler against Englot, who was forced to play catch up throughout a Friday morning matchup she would lose 8-4 that also kept the Regina resident out of Friday's quarter-finals.

Sweeting opened the Grand Slam of Curling event in Lloydminster, Sask., with losses to Casey Scheidegger, Kerri Einarson and reigning Scotties Tournament of Hearts champion Rachel Homan.

Englot also finished with a record of 1-3 with the Manitoba rink she joined last year for the Scotties event in St. Catharines, Ont., where she dropped a 8-6 decision in an extra end to Homan.

The seven-time Saskatchewan Scotties champion has fared even worse of late against Sweeting, who went 7-0 last month to successfully defend her Tour Challenge Tier 1 title, beating Englot 8-5 in the quarter-finals of the GSOC season opener in Regina. They met in the championship the year before, with Sweeting prevailing 8-4 in Cranbrook, B.C.

After watching Michelle Englot battle back from a pair of two-point deficits, Edmonton skip Val Sweeting, pictured here, pulled away with four unanswered points late in Friday morning's match at curling's Masters for a 8-4 victory. However, both rinks failed to qualify for the quarter-finals. (Courtesy Anil Mungal Photography)

Last month, Sweeting downed Englot 7-4 in the preliminary round of the Players' Championship in Toronto.

On Friday, Sweeting took a 2-0 lead in the first end, only to watch Englot score one in each of the second and fourth to even matters.

Sweeting went up 4-2 in the fifth end but Englot answered in the sixth with a score of two. After going ahead 5-4 in the seventh, Sweeting scored three in the eighth and final end.

'Great experience'

At 53, Englot's career has spanned three decades, mostly in Saskatchewan. In September, she told Devin Heroux of CBC Sports she is excited each time she steps on the ice with third Kate Cameron, second Leslie Wilson and lead Raunora Westcott, who wanted someone with Englot's experience and track record last winter when skip Kristy McDonald stepped back from competitive curling 

"It's been such a great experience," said Englot, adding she needed a strong 2016-17 season to prove to herself she could still compete at the highest level.

The Grand Slam event continues through Sunday. CBC Sports will stream the women's quarter-finals on Saturday and the men's final on Sunday.

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