News Masters

LLOYDMINSTER, Sask. — It was kind of sketchy but Brad Gushue of St. John’s, N.L., extended his Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling winning streak to qualify for the playoffs at the Masters.

Gushue, who went on a 7-0 tear to capture September’s Tour Challenge Tier 1, earned his third win in as many days at the second GSOC event of the season with a 5-4 victory Thursday evening over Winnipeg’s Mike McEwen.

The eight-time GSOC title winner Gushue was just happy to score the victory regardless of the execution.

“A win’s a win; I’d rather win ugly than lose pretty,” Gushue said. “It was nice to get a win and get into the playoffs but certainly we could be sharper.

“The evening draws as the days go on, more and more frost gets in the ice and makes it harder and harder. We watched some of the games early in the day and they’re making tons of shots, the ice seems to be sliding nicely and then by the time we play at night it gets a little bit more of a challenge. I think our team is capable of dealing with it and we showed that tonight.”

The force was strong to start with singles going steady and Gushue up 2-1 after three ends.

Gushue made a short runback to hide one in the fourth and had McEwen draw for one, however, his team burned the rock to give up a steal. McEwen (1-2) gave up another in the fifth to trail 4-1 when he attempted a raise but didn’t quite get the right angle.

The six-time GSOC title winner McEwen drew for two in the sixth to claw back and erased the deficit with a steal in seven as Gushue hit and rolled too far.

Gushue held the hammer advantage in the final frame though and made no mistake drawing into the eight-foot circle with his last.

“The ice was a bit challenging,” Gushue said. “We had one side of the sheet where it really developed a lot of frost and stuck us to the other side. There were two chunks out of the ice that I think had an impact on a couple rocks and caused a pick in a previous game.

“It was a battle for both teams. We both threw some good shots and got bad results out of them. It was a sloppy, ugly game but certainly nice to come out on the right side.”

Although it may have seemed like an easy final shot to call, Gushue was quite cautious given the way the ice had been running.

“There’s some doubt there because you have to go into a new path and the way it’s been working this week is as soon as you get a first rock in a new path it’s generally slower,” Gushue said. “We tried to throw about six feet more and you hope you’re right. If you guess wrong or the spot is a little quicker you can look silly.

“Fortunately, we guessed right, threw the right weight, the guys gave me the right information, swept it perfectly and we won. But it’s scary not knowing exactly what weight to throw when you have to draw to the eight foot to win a game.”

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Elsewhere in Draw 10, defending Masters champion Niklas Edin (3-0) of Sweden qualified for the playoffs doubling up on Jason Gunnlaugson 8-4 in five ends.

It started out as a tight battle with Gunnlaugson opening with a deuce in the first. Edin matched with a pair in the second and stole two in the third. The Winnipeg native Gunnlaugson bounced back counting another couple in the fourth to even things 4-4.

The fifth end was the game-breaker as Gunnlaugson attempted at least a triple takeout while facing four to limit the damage but whiffed completely and called it a night early before Edin had a chance to toss his last stone.

“I think the win there was the important thing,” Edin said. “We didn’t play well in the beginning. They had us beat to the first couple of ends. We were lucky to stay in it and got a really fortunate break in the third end there. We got in a couple of rocks and that in-turn side going away was really slow. Misjudged that tap a bit and we stole two. From there we kind of got the momentum of the game and then we started playing better as well.”

Edin was still nervous even with the pressure on and a quad of rocks as Gunnlaugson is known for his heavy delivery and decluttering houses in an instant.

“I was pretty sure he was going to get at least three out there but not his best throw,” Edin said. “He can for sure make those a lot of times so we were kind of worried. We thought it was going to be a long game until the end there, got that break and they shook hands. We’re really happy with the win there.”

The victory at the Masters last season was Edin’s first title — and first for a non-Canadian men’s team — in the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling. That opened the floodgates for Edin in the series as he added the Tour Challenge Tier 1 and Players’ Championship titles later in the season and earned the Bonus Cup as the overall 2016-17 champ.

“That was the turning point of our careers pretty much. We’ve been playing these Slams and chasing the Slam win for years now and then finally getting it last year I think that changed the whole thing,” Edin said. “We got on a big roll from there, we won a lot of events and got up to No. 1 in the world spot and this year just way more expectations on ourselves. We didn’t start the season as good and didn’t get the results. I think we played OK but now it seems to be turning around again. We’re getting both the results and playing well.”

Gunnlaugson claimed the Tour Challenge Tier 2 title to earn a berth in the Masters and is still in it for now finishing round-robin play with a 2-2 record.

Winnipeg’s Reid Carruthers capped a two-win Thursday powering past Saskatoon’s Steve Laycock 9-3.

Carruthers, who threw 100 percent in the match, scored deuces in one, five and seven and added a three-spot in the fifth. Laycock (1-2) was limited to singles in two, four and six.

“It was one of those ones you’re trying not to overthink,” Carruthers said. “You know you’re playing OK but, when you’re at the Grand Slam you’re playing against the best teams in the world so you can’t really let your foot off the gas pedal.

“The first Grand Slam against Steve was one of those games where we got up and they’re one of those teams where it doesn’t matter what the scoreboard is, they play hard and play every point. You can never, never count them out of a game. This was a good one for us because it was one of those games where we got up and kept playing aggressively. It worked out for us and it was a good rebound day after getting spanked by [Brad] Jacobs last night.”

Carruthers flipped the script from the Tour Challenge Tier 1 where he missed the playoffs with a 1-3 record and has qualified in the Masters at 3-1.

“That’s a good sign,” Carruthers said. “Qualifying for the playoffs is great. It’s really interesting with the way the draw is. We have a day off tomorrow so we’ll definitely be scouting the ice. We’ll come and practise and hopefully play like we did tonight in the quarters.”

Scotland’s Kyle Smith (1-2) stayed alive with a 6-2 win over American John Shuster, who is out at 1-3.

In the lone women’s division match, Switzerland’s Alina Paetz (3-1) advanced to the playoffs with a 7-5 victory against compatriot Silvana Tirinzoni (2-1).

NOTES: The Masters, held at Centennial Civic Centre, is the second event and first major of the 2017-18 Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling season. … Round-robin action runs through to Friday with the quarterfinals and semifinals Saturday and finals set for Sunday.