News Players' Championship

SUMMERSIDE, P.E.I. — Brad Gushue could have been on the ice all night signing autographs and taking pictures with fans at the Players’ Championship on Friday.

Who could blame the St. John’s, N.L., skip as his team are the clear fan favourites once again in the Grand Slam of Curling series.

Gushue received vocal support at the Syncrude National last month in Fort McMurray, Alta., with a pro-Newfoundland and Labrador crowd on hand cheering and waving flags. Lead Geoff Walker is originally from Alberta while second Adam Casey and third Brett Gallant hail from P.E.I. and are receiving the rock star treatment this time around in their home province.

“We strategically pick players for where the Slams are I guess,” Gushue said with a laugh. “It’s been great, they’ve been treating us really well and it’s fun. It’s always fun to see people’s reactions and see the positive reactions when you play or even just to meet you.”

Team Gushue is off to a hot start at the Players’ Championship and heads to the playoffs with a 4-1 round-robin record after doubling up on Saskatoon’s Steve Laycock 8-4 in a game that was closer than it appeared. A score of four in the fourth gave Gushue a 5-2 lead, but Laycock rallied right back with a deuce in five. Gushue settled for a single in the sixth but capitalized on a miss in the seventh to steal two and seal the game.

“We got a four there that opened it up a little bit, but with the five-rock rule no lead is really big and they came back with a deuce,” Gushue said. “It was a tight game. We knew that one bad shot could let them back into it and fortunately, we kept the pressure on and the miss out of them in seventh end to finish it off.”

Elsewhere in Draw 11 action, Edmonton’s Kevin Martin broke a 2-2 tie with a steal of two in the fifth and held on to beat Murdoch 5-3. Martin improved to a 2-2 record while Murdoch has been eliminated from playoff contention at 1-3.

Calgary’s Kevin Koe (4-0) scored a deuce in the seventh and stole one in the eighth to beat Glenn Howard (1-4) of Penetanguishene, Ont., 8-6 to keep his unblemished record intact.

Although there are two more round-robin draws on tap for the men’s division, the playoff picture is set on the women’s side with no tiebreakers required.

Saskatoon’s Stefanie Lawton (3-2) defeated Calgary’s Crystal Webster 5-3. Lawton will face Ottawa’s Rachel Homan in the quarterfinals. Webster was eliminated with a 2-3 record.

Julie Hastings of Thornhill, Ont., iced Edmonton’s Valerie Sweeting 6-5 with a single in an extra end. Both finished at 1-4.

Switzerland’s Silvana Tirinzoni, Sweden’s Margaretha Sigfridsson and defending champion Eve Muirhead of Scotland all finished tied atop of the table with 4-1 records. Tirinzoni and Sigfridsson earned the byes to the semifinals based on draw-to-the-button totals. Muirhead meets Olympic gold medallist Jennifer Jones of Winnipeg in the other quarterfinal match.

Notes: The Players’ Championship is the fourth and final event of the Grand Slam of Curling season. … The five-rock rule is in effect on the men’s side. Rocks sitting in the free-guard zone cannot be removed from play until the sixth rock. … Homan, winner of the Masters, has an opportunity to earn a $100,000 bonus if her team also captures the Players’ Championship to sweep the two women’s titles.