Glenn Howard has secured a playoff spot at the Recharge with Milk Ontario Men’s Tankard in Brantford.
Howard, from Penetanguishene, won both of his games Thursday to remain undefeated at 8-0 with just two round robin draws remaining.
The four-time world champion Howard scored a 7-3 victory over Pat Ferris (3-5) of Grimsby and topped Toronto’s John Epping 7-3 thanks to a late three-ender in the ninth.
Earlier, Epping made an incredible shot for a deuce in the final end to defeat Dayna Deruelle (2-5) of Brampton 8-7.
Team Epping is tied with Greg Balsdon and his team from Kingston for second place in the standings at 6-2. Balsdon beat Mike Harris of Toronto 8-3 and stole a point coming home to edge Deruelle 6-5.
Provincial Curling Championships: Live Scores | Standings
Harris, the 1998 Nagano Olympics silver medallist, is currently in fourth place with a 6-3 record and rebounded from the loss to Balsdon to beat Mark Bice (3-5) of Sarnia 9-3.
Joe Frans (5-3) is right behind Harris in fifth place. Frans scored four in the eighth to beat Ian Dickie (2-7) of Newmarket 7-2 and picked up an 8-5 win over Ferris.
Ottawa’s Mike McLean held the bye during the evening draw and is still in the mix with a 4-4 record. McLean fell 6-3 to Bice in the afternoon.
The Ontario Tankard resumes Friday at 2 p.m. ET (watch on Rogers TV Sports+).
NEW BRUNSWICK
Mike Kennedy continues to top the standings at the New Brunswick Pepsi Tankard in Saint John.
Team Kennedy of Moncton climbed to a 4-0 record Thursday and now hold sole possession of first place in the round robin.
Kennedy earned a 7-5 victory over Terry Odishaw (2-2) in an all-Moncton rink matchup and scored three in the final end to beat defending champion Jeremy Mallais (1-3) of Saint John 7-5.
Meanwhile, Moncton’s Rick Perron (3-1) climbed into second place scoring an 8-4 win over Wayne Tallon (0-4) of Fredericton and edging Jason Roach (2-2) of Saint John 5-4.
Earlier Thursday, Roach defeated James Grattan (2-2) of Oromocto 6-5. Grattan, who appeared in the Brier 11 times, bounced back to beat Tallon 9-2 in six ends.
Fredericton’s Rene Comeau, who won both his games Wednesday, slipped to a 2-2 record falling 8-5 to Mallais and 7-5 to Odishaw.
Three draws remain in the round robin with action resuming Friday at 2 p.m. AT.
SASKATCHEWAN
Defending champion Steve Laycock has reached the A qualifier match at the Saskatchewan Tankard in Kindersley with a 9-6 win over Dean Kleiter Thursday.
Laycock, from Saskatoon, broke a 2-2 tie with a five-ender in the fourth and held on during the A semifinals of the triple knockout.
Laycock will take on Regina’s Randy Bryden in the A qualifier on Friday with a playoff spot on the line. Bryden edged Josh Heidt of Kerrobert 6-5 in the other A semifinal.
Heidt dropped to the B bracket and meets Ryan Deis of Fox Valley, who beat Regina’s Jason Ackerman 6-4.
Meanwhile, Kleiter faces Bruce Korte, who topped Shaun Meachem 8-4. Trailing 4-1 after six ends, Korte scored three in the seventh to tie it, stole three in eight for the lead and swiped another point in nine during the all-Saskatoon rink match.