The Red Deer Curling Classic has been a prosperous event for Jamie King.
The Edmonton skip took top honours in the men’s division of the World Curling Tour ‘spiel for the third time Monday, posting a 6-4 win over Jamie Koe of Yellowknife and his pick-up team that included second Chris Schille of Red Deer.
King first won the Red Deer event as a member of Blake MacDonald’s rink in 2001 and in 2006 skipped his own entry to victory.
“Third time’s a charm. It’s been fantastic. This is a great place to play,” said King, just prior to accepting the $9,000 winner’s cheque at the Red Deer Curling Centre.
The King foursome, also including Warren Hassall, Todd Brick and Sean Morrie, snapped a 3-3 tie with a steal of three in the sixth end when Koe wrecked on guards while attempting gentle-weight takeouts with his final two stones.
“He had a tough shot for one and just touched the top guard,” King said of Koe’s last rock.
“We steal three and all of a sudden we’re in a good spot for the rest of the (eight-end) game. You never expect to get a steal of three, not against a good team. But it was a tough shot and it just curled up on him a little.”
King’s and his supporting cast upped their season WCT earnings to just over $20,000.
The foursome has now won two Alberta Tour events and with a good showing at the third provincial tour stop — another WCT ‘spiel Nov. 18-21 in Wainwright — will likely earn a bye into the men’s provincial finals leading into the Brier.
King’s crew qualified for the Red Deer Classic playoff round Saturday out of the A event.
The eventual champs then slipped past Lui Riu of China 7-6 in a Monday morning quarter-final and edged Brent Bawel of Calgary 6-5 in an afternoon semifinal.
“It was a light weekend. We played only six games and even got an hour of extra sleep,” said the skip, in reference to the weekend time change.
“Some people say you want to come out of the B event because you want to play more games. I say ‘no way’. I’d rather have a day off and know you’re in the (Monday) playoffs.”
Koe, who five times has represented the Northwest Territories in the Brier, punched his ticket to the Classic championship final with a 7-6 semifinal win over Tom Appelman of Edmonton.
Meanwhile, Silvana Tirinzoni and her foursome from Switzerland downed Kelley Law’s team from New Westminster, B.C., 6-3 in the women’s final, earning $9,500 in the process.
“It’s kind of unexpected for us but we’re certainly enjoying this,” said Tirinzoni, who has Irene Schori at third and Esther Neuenschwander and Sandra Gantenbein on the front end.
The Swiss rink will fly home today after a two-week visit to Western Canada which also included a quarter-final finish in the Colonial Square Classic Oct. 28-31 at Saskatoon. The team earned $2,500 after falling to Jennifer Jones of Winnipeg in the final eight.
“Two events, two cheques. That’s not too bad,” said Tirinzoni.
The Swiss skip plans to visit Canada on an annual basis to engage in top-notch competition.
“In Canada there are so many great teams,” she said. “We don’t have that in Switzerland, we only have about seven (competitive) teams. To play in Canada is always very good to improve and we really enjoy playing here.”
Tirinzoni defeated Renee Sonnenberg of Grande Prairie 4-3 in a semifinal, while Law, who earned $6,500, got to the final with a 6-4 win over Rachel Homan of Ottawa.
Koe earned $6,000 as the men’s runner-up, with the third- and fourth-place teams picking up $3,500, the fifth- to eight-place squads pocketing $2,500 and the ninth- and 10th-place teams getting $500.
The women’s division paid $3,500 to the third- and fourth-place teams, $2,500 to the fifth- to eight-place foursomes and $500 for finishing ninth to 12th.
Monday’s quarter-final scores:
Women — Homan 8 Desiree Owen 5; Sonnenberg, Ott 4; Law 4 Jennifer Jones 3; Tirinzoni 6 Jessie Kaufman 5.
Men — Koe 7 Brock Virtue 1; King 7 Rui 6; Bawel 6 Vance Elder 5; Appelman 6 Kevin Park 4.
gmeachem@www.reddeeradvocate.com