Edmonton’s Kevin Martin stole two in the final end to defeat Winnipeg’s Jeff Stoughton 7-6 during Draw 8 action at the Grand Slam of Curling’s Masters event on Thursday in Abbotsford, B.C.
Stoughton (2-1) held the hammer facing four in the eight but fired his last shot too hard and could only take out two of Martin’s rocks.
Martin, a 17-time Grand Slam champion, improved to a 2-1 record at the tournament. The 2010 Olympic gold medallist dropped his opening draw match 7-6 in the extra end against China’s Rui Liu but bounced back with a 6-4 victory over Norway’s Thomas Ulsrud in a rematch of the Vancouver Winter Games final.
Masters coverage continues Friday on Sportsnet at 12 p.m. ET / 9 a.m. PT featuring Glenn Howard against Sven Michel.
Stoughton controlled the early portion of the match with a deuce in the second and nailed the double raised takeout with his final shot in the third to force Martin to settle for one. He then scored four in the fourth end to lead 6-2. Martin clawed back with a deuce in the fifth and a steal of one in the sixth.
Veteran curler David Nedohin joined Martin’s rink at third this season and the four-time Brier champion is playing in his first major tournament with his new team.
Elsewhere, five-time Masters champion Glenn Howard scored three in the seventh to beat Mike McEwen 5-2. Howard (3-0) ran the table at the Players’ Championship in April with a perfect 7-0 record, including a 4-3 win over Team McEwen in the final.
Howard blanked the opening two ends to retain the hammer and eyed three points in the third but his final stone chipped McEwen’s shot rock closer to the button and the Winnipeg rink stole one. The Penetanguishene, Ont., team scored one in the fourth and stole another in the fifth.
McEwen is ranked second on the World Curling Tour but dropped to 0-3 at the Masters.
Toronto’s John Epping (2-2) capped his round-robin with a 6-4 win over defending Masters champion Kevin Koe (2-1).
The Edmonton rink opened the scoring with a single in the first but Epping claimed the lead with a three-ender in the third. He added to his lead with a deuce in the seventh and handed Koe his first loss at the tournament.
