Cathy O bows to Birchard in what may be swan song

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This article was published 24/01/2016 (3878 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

BEAUSEJOUR — If you watched the skips more than the curling, the Cathy Overton-Clapham vs. Shannon Birchard dance was a beautiful sort of story.

On one side, there was a decorated champion. The veteran who drifted away, but came back to lead three young curlers through one last provincial ride.

On the other, holding red-topped granite, was the 21-year-old up ‘n’ comer, her curling journey already on a sharp rise.

In a way, it’s a shame only one could win: either a curling story at its beginning, or one nearing its end. But it was the 2 vs. 2 Page playoff game at the Manitoba Scotties Tournament of Hearts. It was a stepping stone to the next match, as the hunt for the 2016 buffalo jacket enters its final stretch.

When it was over, Birchard was still in the hunt. She beat Overton-Clapham 7-3, and her St. Vital Curling Club foursome continued its forward march.

“It’s the next step towards achieving our goals, so we feel ecstatic about it,” said Birchard, who was named the tournament’s all-star skip. “We have all the shots. Maybe not as much experience as some of these other teams, but I think when we all play well, we stand a great chance against all of them.”

The game itself wasn’t particularly memorable. “Disappointing,” Overton-Clapham would call it later, and she was frank about why: she didn’t shoot very well. Their opponents often had them on the run, or chasing; Birchard’s foursome wasn’t perfect, but for the most part they had smooth sailing.

The fifth end, maybe, is where it became clear they could sail right off. In that end Birchard studded the house with rocks; on Overton-Clapham’s last shot with hammer, an attempted hit-and-stick for a single, her stone came in on the wrong angle and rolled out. It was a steal of one for Birchard, who then led 4-1.

Another error in the eighth fixed the result. Overton-Clapham’s team was sitting on a chance at three, but lost it on a miss; again, Overton-Clapham flubbed the hammer. What should have been an open hit for two squirted out the house instead of sticking, so they had to settle for the single.

In the ninth, Birchard put a dagger in with a deuce. They shook a few minutes later. For Overton-Clapham, the former world champion and familiar face for decades around Manitoba curling, it could be the last time she does at a provincials.

“I hope that Cathy O walks away happy, but not happy enough for this to be her swan song,” one fan wrote on Twitter, before the evening match.

But after it was over, Overton-Clapham nodded and smiled again when presented with the question whether it was her last dance. Bittersweet, perhaps. But she can end it knowing she led her eager and talented team of third Briane Meilleur, second Katherine Doerksen and lead Krysten Karwacki to a playoff berth.

She can also smile knowing she offered her final handshake to another protege, of sorts. Though they had never faced each other on the ice before, Overton-Clapham once provided mentorship to Birchard through her Sandra Schmirler Foundation efforts.

“She’s a great woman,” Birchard said.

The younger skip said what she learned most from Overton-Clapham was how to play under pressure; that lesson is now carrying her further.

“It’s great for Manitoba that we have these players, that are playing in this and are young and all coming up,” Overton-Clapham said, with a smile. “It’s great to see.”

Maybe that’s the way it always goes. One sun sets, another rises. Overton-Clapham is bowing out and Birchard is headed to this morning’s semifinal, where she will face Kerri Einarson for a last-chance push to make the 1:30 p.m. championship game.

Whatever happens, it’s a safe bet this won’t be the last time Birchard is still standing on the last day of the week.

“It’s going to be tough, but we’ve had great starts at all of our games so far,” she said. “If we can continue to do that, I think it’ll be a close game.”

melissa.martin@freepress.mb.ca