OSHAWA, Ont. — Glenn Howard advanced to the National semifinals thanks to a beauty angle raise to count two in the final end and lift his Penetanguishene, Ont., team to a 5-4 victory over Calgary’s Kevin Koe on Saturday.
Team Howard will play Winnipeg’s Reid Carruthers, who edged reigning Olympic champion Brad Jacobs, of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., with a deuce coming home to win 7-5.
Howard, a four-time National champion, opened with the hammer and nailed an angle raise for two in the first end. Koe blanked the second to retain the hammer for three and made an open hit for a pair of his own points to tie it 2-2.
Koe made a double and his shooter rolled buried to force Howard to just one in the fourth. Team Koe blanked the fifth, grabbed shot rock with their last in six and added second for the deuce thanks to a measure to go up 4-3.
The National continues with the women’s quarterfinals at 4 p.m. ET / 1 p.m. PT on Sportsnet.
Meanwhile, Jacobs came up light on his last shot in the first to give up a steal of one and the two teams alternated singles through the second, third and fourth ends. After Carruthers got his trey, Jacobs took two to narrow the gap to one point and stole one in seven to tie it 5-5.
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Elsewhere in the men’s quarterfinals, Brad Gushue of St. John’s earned a 9-4 win over Norway’s Thomas Ulsrud. Gushue, a three-time Grand Slam champion, scored two in the fourth and stole a pair in five to pull ahead 5-3. The 2006 Olympic gold medallist held Ulsrud to a single in six and scored four in the seventh to advance.
Gushue will play Toronto’s John Epping, who earned deuces in two and four, stole a pair in five and defeated two-time Brier winner Pat Simmons of Calgary 6-3.
The National is the third event — and second major — of the 2015-16 Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling season and runs through to Sunday evening at the General Motors Centre.
Both men’s and women’s semifinals start a 7:30 p.m. ET. Watch on Sportsnet ONE.
