News Canadian Open

NORTH BATTLEFORD, Sask. — Sweden’s Niklas Edin, Brad Jacobs of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., and Calgary’s Kevin Koe reached the A-qualifiers in the Meridian Canadian Open.

All three improved to 2-0 records in triple knockout play Wednesday night at the Civic Centre. Edin topped Winnipeg’s Mike McEwen 7-5 in a deuces wild game, Jacobs drew for the winning single in the eighth to clip Brad Gushue of St. John’s, N.L., 5-4 and Koe rolled out to an 8-2 rout over Greg Balsdon of Kingston, Ont., in just five ends.

Edin will play American John Shuster for a playoff spot while Jacobs and Koe clash in the second A-qualifier. Teams must win three games before they lose three in order to advance to the quarterfinals.

After a busy first-half of the season that saw Edin win five titles — including his first two Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling championships — his team took a break over the holidays to rest and catch up. Edin said it felt a little awkward though when he stepped onto the ice this week. 

“We’ve been away for a couple weeks now and just needed some time off after a really good fall but it was also a hectic one so we needed some time away and spend some time with family,” said Edin, who also counted a 4-3 victory over American Heath McCormick during the afternoon. “Then we got back here for the first practice and it felt like we hadn’t curled in a year, so it took some getting used to. We’re still making a few small mistakes but luckily we still got some good results out of it. I hope we can start playing a bit better tomorrow now that we’re used to the ice. We’re back into game mode again, so it feels like we should be able to play a bit better tomorrow.” 

After splitting singles in the first couple ends, Edin counted his first deuce in the third. McEwen (1-1) matched with a pair of points in the fourth and Edin counted another couple in the fifth to pull back ahead 5-3. McEwen, who has won six GSOC titles, added another deuce in six to knot it up again, but Edin kept the pace for one last two count in the seventh that held up for the victory.

Edin credited the see-saw action to the five-rock rule and the style of play for both teams.

“We kind of try to build up for a big score and if that doesn’t work then we bail out,” Edin said. “In this case both teams played really well with hammer so both teams were happy to give way a deuce in all of those ends.”

In the B stage, sponsor’s exemption Bruce Korte of Saskatoon scored three in the sixth and stole one in seven to earn an 9-5 win over Scotland’s Kyle Smith. Korte (1-1) stays in the mix in the B-side while Smith slides to C where he must win three straight in order to qualify for the playoffs while another loss means an automatic elimination.

Edmonton’s Charley Thomas edged Toronto’s John Epping 6-5 in an extra end. Thomas (1-1) stays in B while Epping (0-2) drops to C.

Meridian Canadian Open action resumes Thursday at 8 a.m. CT and runs through to Sunday at the Civic Centre in North Battleford.

NOTES: TV coverage begins Thursday at 11:30 a.m. CT on Sportsnet. … The event features a triple knockout preliminary round where teams must win three games before they lose three in order to qualify for the playoffs. … Winners of the Meridian Canadian Open earn spots for the season-ending Humpty’s Champions Cup taking place at the end of April in Calgary.