Skrlik riding breakthrough season into Grand Slam Tour Challenge

Skrlik popped 6 in the first end enroute to a 9-3 win over Sarah Anderson of the United States in HearingLife Tour Challenge Tier 2 on Wednesday morning. Skrlik with Brittany Tran at third, Geri-Lynn Ramsay and Ashton Skrlik on the front end added three more points in the third end, getting early handshakes after 5 ends. Skrliik improved to 2-0 with the win, having defeated Danielle Inglis of Ottawa, 4-3, on Tuesday at the Gale Centre in Niagara Falls. Skrlik soroe 1 in the first end with hammer, then stole singles in the fourth and fifth ends for a 4-1 lead, going on to hold-off Inglis for the win. Skrlik is 11-8 on the season, following up a 40-24 record last season after winning the Ladies Alberta Open in Okotoks and then the big shot over Casey Scheidegger to win the Alberta Scotties that put the team onto the national stage for the first time. Skrlik opened this seeason with win at the Alberta Tour Kick-off, though has missed the playoffs in three events since, coming up short at the Saville Shootout, losing their only game at the Pointbet Invitational, then going 3-3 at the Autumn Gold Curling Classic where they lost a C-side semifinal game to Winnipeg's Beth Peterson. The team has been close, their winning record still indicative of a team playing well in strong fields, though a high percentage of steals given up (34% steal defense) has held the team back so far. A strong start at the Tour Challenge and the unique nature of the event, where Skrlik only faces teams ranked 17-32 on the World Rankings, opens the door for this team to continue their rise. Skrlik played in last season's HearingLife Tour Challenge in Grande Prairie, Alberta, going 2-3 after losing a tiebreaker game to Winnipeg's Kristy Watling. Looking to improve upon last year's result, Skrlik finishes their round-robin schedule against Christina Black of Halifax at 6 pm Mountain Time (4 pm Eastern Time), then follows up against Japan's Sayaka Yoshimura at 10 pm MT on Friday. Playoffs begin on Saturday with the top 8 teams advancing from the 16-team pools event, with the championship final on Sunday. The winner of the HearingLife Tour Challenge will earn an expenses paid trip to Red Deer in January for the Co-op Canadian Open.