For Sudbury’s Tracy Fleury it was basically a home game.
“I definitely felt the crowd support, I have a lot of family and friends in the stands, which meant at lot to me.”
Feeding off that support in front of a packed house at Memorial Gardens in North Bay, Fleury was able to stay ahead of Japan’s Sayaka Yoshimura for a 7-5 victory, her 1st ever Grand Slam title at a Masters.
“It’s an amazing feeling,” she says. “I had lost two finals before, which was tough being so close but to finally be able to pull it off, it’s amazing accomplishment.
The teams traded chances in the early going, with both sides securing a deuce after two ends.
Fleury hit another deuce in the third end and expanded her lead to 5-2 in the fourth, which Fleury says was the turning point of the match.
“We put some pressure on them and got a steal to go up by three. I think that was a critical moment for us.”
Leading 6-5 with the hammer in the 8th end, Fleury found herself facing two across the eight-foot circle. Instead of going for the draw, she went for a hit, pulled off the double and secured the victory.
“I felt like we kind of just kept building momentum. We got a really good handle on the ice,” says Fleury after the team celebrated with the trophy and were congratulated by many fans on their way out the doors.
“My teammates were playing really well which makes my job really easy, they were setting the ends up so well and I’m just really proud of how we played.”
The win gives team Fleury a $35,000 prize as well as 12 Pinty’s Cup points and a spot in the season-ending Humpty’s Champions Cup.
All through the week Fleury and her crew were impressed with the turnout from the North Bay spectators, including many youth who took in all the action.
“It’s incredible, there was lots of young people out which is really good to see. They are the future of the sport, so it’s good that so many young people are interested in the sport. Just really glad to see it.”
She adds, “North Bay does such a fantastic job with the event, they always do. They have hosted a couple of big events in the past and it’s always a big success so kudos to them, it’s been a fantastic event.”
