News Tour Challenge

PARADISE, N.L. — Brad Gushue of St. John’s, N.L., had the capacity crowd on their feet roaring again as his team slid past Charlottetown’s Adam Casey 8-1 during Draw 9 Thursday night at the Tour Challenge. 

Gushue improved to a 2-1 record after falling to Winnipeg’s Reid Carruthers in the opening night draw and bouncing back to take down David Murdoch on Wednesday night. Casey, who previously played with Gushue, sits at 1-2. 

Teams struggled through frosty ice conditions that led to a few lopsided scores on the board. Casey missed both of his shots in the first end and Gushue stole two points to start. Gushue swiped another point in the second and forced Casey to one in the third. Team Gushue closed out the game early with a five-ender in four.

Meanwhile, Glenn Howard of Penetanguishene, Ont., rolled to a 3-0 record and clinched a playoff spot following a 7-2 victory over Saskatoon’s Steve Laycock. Howard broke a 1-1 tie with a deuce in four, held Laycock to one in the fifth and scored four in the sixth.

Olympic gold medallist Brad Jacobs of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., rebounded from a loss to Howard earlier in the day to shut out Switzerland’s Sven Michel 6-0. Jacobs scored two in the second, stole three in the third and swiped another point in four to bring out the early handshakes. Jacobs moved up to a 2-1 record while Michel is heading home at 0-4. 

In the women’s division, Ottawa’s Rachel Homan blanked Edmonton’s Kelsey Rocque 7-0 to qualify with a 3-0 record. Homan led 4-0 through three ends and stole three more in the fourth when Rocque’s final shot didn’t make it across the hog line. Rocque has a 2-1 record. 

Switzerland’s Silvana Tirinzoni stole a point in the extra end to win 8-7 against Tracy Fleury of Sudbury, Ont. Tirinzoni (2-1) hit and lied buried for shot stone with her final rock and Fleury (1-2) wasn’t able to knock it out.

NOTES: The Tour Challenge is the first of two new tournaments on the expanded seven-event 2015-16 Pinty’s GSOC season and features 30 men’s and 30 women’s teams split into two tiers. … Winners of the Tier 1 divisions also receive berths to the second new Pinty’s GSOC event, the season-ending Champions Cup. … Tier 2 champions earn byes to the next Grand Slam, the Masters, running Oct. 27 to Nov. 1 in Truro, N.S.