THE CANADIAN PRESS
WATERLOO, Ont. — Glenn Howard defeated Peter Corner 9-4 in seven ends to win the Ontario men’s curling championship on Sunday.
He will now represent Ontario at the Brier which begins in Winnipeg March 8.
This is Howard’s fifth straight Ontario final as a skip and third straight win. He was also a winner seven times as third with brother Russ Howard.
With Howard holding the hammer in the first end, Corner was lying one and with his last rock attempted to draw the far side of the four-foot to leave a hit for one or a difficult double. It didn’t curl as expected and instead tapped one of Howard’s stone in the top 12-foot to the button, leaving an open hit for four.
"I threw it right where I put the broom and it only curled a foot and its been curling four-and-a-half feet all week," Corner said.
When that kind of mistake happens, Howard pounces.
"That’s the way the game is, it’s a game of inches," said Howard.
"That wasn’t an easy shot in the first end, but I thought (Corner) would make it." Corner did come back with a deuce in the second. The teams exchanged singles until Howard notched another four points in the fifth end effectively ending the game.
"I’ve said all week the reason Glenn wins a lot of games is guys can’t make routine shots against them," said Corner.
"We just weren’t executing today, like we were (Saturday.)"
Howard’s team rarely missed a shot throughout the week compiling a round-robin record of 9-1.
"These guys are just making everything in front me," Howard said of teammates Richard Hart, Brent Laing and Craig Savill.
"We don’t give the oppositions many chances. We are always on the offensive making them make tough shots."
Corner and Mike Harris were right behind Howard in the standings at 8-2 after Friday games while Rob Lobel, Wayne Middaugh and Wayne Tuck — all at 5-5 — went into tiebreakers to decide the final playoff spot. Lobel was the eventual winner out of those three and faced Harris in the page system 3-4 game while Howard took on Corner in the 1-2 match.
Corner edged Howard 6-4 advancing directly to the final. Howard dropped into the semifinal to take on Harris who had beaten Lobel 8-7.
Howard also started that game with a bang, scoring three eventually knocking out Harris 7-2.
"When was the last time they lost two games in a row, let alone three?" Harris said Saturday. "The averages really weren’t on our side."
(Kitchener Waterloo Record)