Edmonton’s Kevin Martin is off to the playoffs at the Syncrude National following a 6-4 victory over Jeff Stoughton during Draw 9 action Friday in Fort McMurray, Alta.
Martin scored a deuce in the fifth to tie it 4-4 and pulled ahead with steals of one in the sixth and seventh ends. Stoughton, from Winnipeg, held the hammer coming home but ran out of rocks.
Stoughton led 3-1 after he nailed an incredible runback to score three in the second end.
Martin wrapped up the round-robin with a 4-1 record while Stoughton (2-3) is out and will not repeat as National champion.
In other Draw 9 action, Oskar Eriksson ousted Brad Jacobs with an 8-1 rout in only three ends. Eriksson’s Swedish rink (4-1) scored three in the first and a five-ender in the third to eliminate the Olympic gold medallists. Jacobs, from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., finished with a 2-3 record.
Sven Michel scored two in the seventh and stole one in the eighth to lift his Swiss team to a 6-5 win over Mark Dacey and knock out the Halifax rink. Michel finishes the round-robin with a perfect 5-0 record.
Sweden’s Niklas Edin couldn’t mount a comeback and fell 6-4 to Soo-Hyuk Kim from South Korea. Kim trailed 2-1 after two but rallied with a deuce in the fourth followed by single steals in three consecutive ends. Down 6-2, Edin managed just two points in the eighth end.
Switzerland’s Pascal Hess rallied to beat Toronto’s Travis Fanset 6-4 and end his tournament on a high note. Both Hess (1-4) and Fanset (0-5) will not advance.
The Syncrude National is the third stop of the Grand Slam of Curling.
