TRURO, N.S. — The playoff picture is shaping up at the Masters with Brad Gushue of St. John’s and Kevin Koe of Calgary climbing to 3-0 records Thursday night at the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling event.
Team Gushue earned a 6-2 victory over Team Niklas Edin during Draw 9 action while Team Koe took down Team Shawn Adams by the same score.
Gushue fell into a bit of trouble in the fourth end. Edin made a perfect freeze without the hammer and Gushue opted to throw away his last to give up the steal of one, and a 2-1 lead, to limit the damage.
“That in-turn freeze he made was, on normal Slam ice, you expect to make it but with the frost tonight, it was tough and especially on that side we didn’t play very much,” Gushue said. “It was really frosty but he got caught there in the seventh end playing on that side of the sheet.
“For him to get through the hole with exact, right weight it was a hell of a shot and we didn’t have anything without risking giving up a bigger end so we just threw it away. He made a great shot there and he made some other ones early in the game.”
Gushue charged back with an open hit for two in the fifth end to pull ahead 3-2. Edin looked to make another nifty throw when he attempted an angle raise for three in the sixth but he missed Gushue’s shot rock completely for a steal of one. Gushue swiped two more points in seven to bring out the handshakes.
“Niklas was making a bunch of shots against us in the first four ends and we just hung in there and put a lot of pressure on him. He had a lot of tough shots in the sixth and seventh for sure,” Gushue said. “We kind of dodged a bullet — he had an angle raise there for three in six — and I was just expecting him to make it and we were hoping the shooter would roll out and he’d only get two, but fortunately for us he missed it altogether and we got the steal.
“That was the big turning point. After that we felt pretty comfortable. Even if we gave him two in seven we’d have the hammer coming home and fortunately we stole another two.”
“It was a good win for us and clinches a playoff spot for us, which is what we want,” Gushue added. “Tomorrow we can just see if we can get a first place out of it.”
Edin holds a 2-1 record in the round robin and is still in contention as he faces Scotland’s David Murdoch on Friday morning.
GSOC Masters Live: Men’s scores | Women’s scores
Elsewhere, Koe curled a perfect 100 percent in his win over Adams. Koe got one in the first and stole points in two and three to roll out to a 3-0 lead. Koe added a deuce in five and another point in seven while limiting Adams to singles in four and six.
Team Koe, who won the Tour Challenge Tier 1 event in September, now face Team Mike McEwen on Friday afternoon. McEwen also holds a 3-0 record after defeating Adams (0-3) earlier Thursday.
Reigning Olympic champion Brad Jacobs earned a 6-3 victory over Brendan Bottcher of Edmonton. Jacobs, from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., now holds a 2-1 record and Bottcher fell to 1-2.
Local favourite Mary-Anne Arsenault of Halifax stole a 4-3 victory to stun Alina Paetz (0-3) of Switzerland and eliminate the reigning world champion from playoff contention. Arsenault trailed 3-0 after three and rallied back with a point in four followed by single steals in the sixth, seventh and eighth ends.
Team Arsenault, the sponsor’s exemption at the Masters, improved to a 2-1 record to stay in the mix.
Switzerland’s Binia Feltscher (1-2) scored two in the final end to earn her first win of the Masters with a 6-5 victory over Scotland’s Eve Muirhead (1-2).
The Masters is the second stop on the seven-event 2015-16 Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling schedule and runs through to Sunday at the Rath Eastlink Community Centre.
