Defending provincial champion Robyn Silvernagle, with Swift Current’s Kelly Schafer playing third, earned a hard-fought 6-4 extra end win over Switzerland’s Michele Jaeggi in the opening draw of the Nutrien Ag Solutions Western Showdown Wednesday night at the Swift Current Curling Club. 

Silvernagle, playing with three team members, picked up two in the third end after Jaeggi scored one with hammer in the first. After back-to-back singles for the team from Bern in the fifth and sixth ends, Silvernagle rallied for a deuce in the seventh to take a 4-3 lead coming home. Jaeggi forced an extra end with a single in the eighth, then Silvernagle picked up two in the ninth to take the victory.

Meanwhile, former Scotties champion Amber Holland and her rink from Kronau defeated 2022 Olympic mixed doubles gold medallist Stefania Constantini of Italy 6-5 in an extra end. Holland held a 5-3 lead without hammer in the eighth end when Constantini scored two to force the extra, and Holland rebounded with a single to take the win.

Other action had Japan’s Satsuki Fugisawa defeating Calgary’s Kayla Skrilik 7-4, Korea’s Eunjung Kim beating Ontario’s Holly Duncan 5-1, and Eun ji Gim of Korea rolling to an 11-2 win over Regina’s Michelle Englot.

The opening men’s draw is at 8:00am this morning with Saskatoon's Steve Laycock, with Swift Current's Chris Haichert, facing Thunder Bay's Trevor Bonot in the opening game of the triple-knockout event. Defending men's champion Niklas Edin of Sweden starts play this afternoon against the winner of the Laycock-Bonot match, and defending women's champion Silvana Tirinzoni of Switzerland will play her first game against Moose Jaw's Penny Barker at 11:15am.

Curling continues through the weekend with the finals set for Sunday.