TORONTO — Mike McEwen has secured a direct berth to the semifinals of the Players’ Championship after making a double takeout to score two in the eighth end for a 6-4 victory over Brad Gushue on Friday at the Mattamy Athletic Centre.
McEwen finished the round-robin with a perfect 5-0 record as he aims to win the Players’ Championship and complete a career Grand Slam.
“Woo, awesome,” McEwen said after the game while letting out a sigh of relief. “That was a nice test against Brad because that was the battle for first place in our pool so it was really nice to have a test like that before the playoffs. I enjoyed that.”
McEwen, from Winnipeg, got on the board to start with a deuce in the first end. The two rinks alternated singles through two and three and Gushue made a neat shot bounce around to avoid giving up a steal and get another point in four to trail 3-2.
McEwen blanked the fifth and took one in the sixth to go up 4-2 but Gushue charged with a deuce in seven to tie it.
“It’s one thing to play loose and free and play good under those conditions, it’s another thing to play good when there’s quite a bit on the line and getting a bye to the semis,” McEwen said. “It puts us in a really good position to hold down a really good chunk of change to end the year so that game meant quite a bit.”
Gushue, of St. John’s, N.L., finished at 4-1 and meets the winner of Saturday morning’s tiebreaker in the quarterfinals.
Players’ Championship: Men’s Scores | Women’s Scores | Standings
Elsewhere, reigning Olympic champion Brad Jacobs powered past Toronto’s John Epping and into the semifinals with a 7-3 victory in six ends.
Jacobs, from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., scored three in the third and stole a point in four to go up 5-2. He held Epping to one in the fifth and the teams shook hands when Jacobs (4-1) added two more points in the sixth. Epping moves on with a 3-2 record and goes up against Calgary’s Kevin Koe in the quarterfinals.
Glenn Howard, of Penetanguishene, Ont., edged Winnipeg’s Reid Carruthers 5-4 to make it into the tiebreaker game.
Howard faces Brendan Bottcher’s Edmonton-based team, who will be skipped by spare Wayne Middaugh as Bottcher had to head home to attend his university graduation. It might be kind of awkward as Howard and Middaugh were longtime teammates and will play together again next season.
Meanwhile, Saskatoon’s Steve Laycock defeated Jeff Stoughton 5-2 in the legendary Winnipeg skip’s final game. Read our full story on Stoughton stepping back from the game by clicking here.
Tiebreaker – Saturday, April 11, 8:30 a.m. ET
Howard vs. Bottcher
Men’s Quarterfinals – Saturday, April 11, 3:30 p.m. ET
Gushue vs. Howard/Bottcher
Koe vs. Epping
Men’s Semifinals – Sunday, April 12, 10 a.m. ET
McEwen vs. TBD
Jacobs vs. TBD