MEDICINE HAT — Winnipeg skip Matt Dunstone scored three points in the fourth end to grab a 6-1 lead, then held on to beat Scotland’s Bruce Mouat 7-6 in the P&H Masters final on Sunday in Medicine Hat, Alta. It was the second consecutive P&H Masters title for the Canadian team at Co-op Place. Dunstone, with third Colton Lott, spare second Colton Flasch, and lead Ryan Harnden, went 7-0 in the tournament, including a quarterfinal win over American Danny Casper and world No. 1 Yannick Schwaller of Switzerland in the semifinals. Dunstone was also pleased that Flasch filled in admirably for regular second Mark Nichols, who was sidelined due to an upper-body injury. “You don’t know what you are going to get with Flasch stepping in, new guy coming to the team,” said Dunstone. “He was great all week, had a lot of fun with him. Obviously missing Mark on a day like today for sure, but I can’t wait to have him back and be able to do this with him as well.” Mouat entered the final with a perfect record, but Dunstone grabbed an early 3-0 lead via back-to-back steals. “A lot of (today’s final) is scoreboard management, right? When you have a five-point lead at the break, you’re just looking at the numbers,” said the Winnipeg curler. “It’s like never giving up more than a deuce, always scoring with hammer, we’re going to be in a good spot.” Dunstone earned $42,000 from the prize purse, while Mouat pocketed $34,000. In the women’s final, Isabella Wrana of Sweden rocked Miku Nihira of Japan 11-2 and earned $34,000. Nihira’s crew took home $26,000 after appearing in their first Grand Slam final. Wrana scored three in the first end, gave up one in the second and then scored three more in the third, and coasted to the win from there. It was Wrana’s second championship in the Grand Slam of Curling, winning the Players’ Championship in 2023.
