Horgan defeats Howard to earn final spot at Canadian Olympic curling trials
CBC
Tanner Horgan defeated one of the most decorated skips in curling on Sunday night in Liverpool, N.S., earning the final spot at the Olympic trials in Saskatoon beginning Nov. 20.
Horgan beat 59-year-old Glenn Howard in the 'B' side qualifier final, 7-4, clinching his first-ever trials berth. His sister, Tracy Fleury, is also skipping at the trials in Saskatoon.
The 23-year-old skip curled 94 per cent, a dazzling performance in the high-stress game.
Horgan and his brother, Jacob, teamed up with Kingston-based curlers Jonathan Beuk, Wes Forget and Scott Chadwick this past off-season to form a new team — Beuk, Forget and Chadwick represented Ontario at the Brier in 2019.
Howard found himself on the ropes in the sixth end, facing four Horgan stones on his last. But the veteran skip was able to remove three of the stones, only giving up a steal of one to keep his team in the game down 4-1 heading to the seventh.
After a rare miss by Horgan on his last, Howard had a chance to get back into the game with a tap for two, but he rolled out and only scored a single point, trailing 4-2.
That was as close as Howard would get. Horgan tacked on two more in the 8th end to take control of the game, leading 6-2.
It was a resilient effort by the younger Horgan team having missed a chance to clinch a trials spot to begin the day.
Earlier on Sunday Jason Gunnlaugson, from Morris, Man., and Jacqueline Harrison, of Dundas, Ont. have both secured spots at the Canadian Olympic curling trials in Saskatoon.
Harrison defeated Corryn Brown 9-2, Sunday afternoon to earn the final women's trials spot. It's her first appearance at the event.
Gunnlaughson defeated Horgan 9-8 in the 'A' side final on Sunday at the pre-trials tournament in Liverpool, N.S. This will be the second appearance at the Olympic trials for the 37-year-old Manitoba skip.
"I think it's a relief more than joy," Gunnlaugson told CBC Sports. "The first time I got there it was pure joy. This is a relief."
Horgan, who didn't lose a game the entire week, took a 4-3 lead into the break.
But Horgan wasn't about to go down without a fight, bouncing back with three of his own in the ninth to set up a dramatic finish with the game tied 8-8.
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