CAMROSE, Alta. — The Meridian Canadian Open is the final tune-up for teams heading to the Winter Games and Tuesday night was literally an Olympic preview for American John Shuster and Niklas Edin of Sweden.
The two will skip their squads next month in Pyeongchang, South Korea, and faced off in the second draw of the Meridian Canadian Open.
Shuster took this round scoring a deuce in the eighth and stealing one in the extra end to complete a 7-6 comeback.
“It’s always good to test yourself against the best in the world and that’s why we come here and play in the Slams and in arenas,” said Shuster, who earned bronze at the 2006 Olympics and will compete in his fourth consecutive Winter Games. “It’s a great thing for us.”
After Shuster was limited to a single in the first, Edin made a cross-house double takeout to score three in the second to take the lead.
A deuce for Shuster in the third tied it up 3-3. The teams alternated singles in four and five, Edin added another in six and stole one in seven to reestablish the two-point gap but couldn’t seal the deal.
Shuster made an open hit for two in the eighth and forced Edin to draw in the extra end. Third Oskar Eriksson jumped up from the house to help sweepers Christoffer Sundgren and Rasmus Wrana but couldn’t drag it close enough to outcount Shuster’s shot stone.
Team Shuster third Tyler George was feeling under the weather according to Shuster and the skip was proud his club was able to battle back.
“It was a struggle-fest out there,” Shuster said. “We came out, played a great first end, a pretty decent second end and Nik made a great shot with his last one. Once we figured out the rocks a little bit, it was better. Definitely not the purest game we’ve played but Ty was battling the flu, that’s always tough to get up for energy but I was really proud of how hard we fought for nine ends.”
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Meanwhile, Winnipeg’s Mike McEwen took a 6-2 set over Edmonton’s Team Bottcher, who have Steve Laycock sparing at skip. McEwen is coming off of a title victory at the Ed Werenich Golden Wrench Classic in Tempe, Ariz., where he defeated Laycock — the real Team Laycock — 6-4 in Sunday’s final.
Toronto’s John Epping took down John Morris’s team from Vernon, B.C., 5-3. Morris has double spares this week with Matt Dunstone filling in for Jim Cotter and Don Walchuk subbing for lead Tyrel Griffith. Dunstone, who throws fourth for Laycock, is tossing last rocks with Morris at third.
Brad Jacobs of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., scored three-enders in the fifth and seventh ends to muscle past China’s Rui Liu 7-3.
Elsewhere in the lone women’s division match, Michelle Englot’s Winnipeg-based team stole three-pointers in the fourth and fifth ends during a 9-2 rout over Edmonton’s Val Sweeting.
Sixteen of the top men’s teams and 16 of the top women’s team from around the world are competing in the fourth tournament — and third major — of the 2017-18 Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling season.
The Meridian Canadian Open features a triple knockout preliminary format where teams must win three games before they lose three in order to qualify for the weekend playoffs. Eight teams in both divisions advance.
Action resumes Wednesday with Draw 3 at 8:30 a.m. MT.
NOTES: Winners of the Meridian Canadian Open earn berths to the season-ending Humpty’s Champions Cup running April 24-29 at Calgary’s WinSport Arena. … Points are also up for grabs for the Bonus Cup, awarded to the overall season champions. … Television coverage begins Thursday at 2 p.m. ET on Sportsnet. Also watch online at Sportsnet NOW (Canada) or gsoc.yaretv.com (international).