Howard, McEwen to meet in Players’ Championship men’s final
TORONTO — Glenn Howard of Coldwater, Ont., and Winnipeg’s Mike McEwen will clash in the final of the Players’ Championship on Sunday afternoon at the Mattamy Athletic Centre.
Howard eliminated reigning Brier champion Brad Jacobs of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., 6-4 and McEwen beat Winnipeg’s Jeff Stoughton 5-2 in Saturday night’s semifinals.
The loss for Jacobs also meant Toronto’s John Epping clinched the final direct spot for the Canadian Olympic trials. Jacobs will now need to take a detour through the pre-trials for an opportunity to qualify.
Howard scored deuces in the first and third ends to grab an early 4-1 lead. After alternating singles in four and five, Jacobs closed the gap down to 5-4 with a two-spot of his own.
Howard settled for another single in the seventh and Jacobs held the hammer in the final end but couldn’t get the equalizer nor the win.
Meanwhile, McEwen was already up one in the seventh and tacked on a deuce for a key three-point advantage.
Stoughton, who beat McEwen in January’s National final to complete a career Grand Slam, faced problems early in the match as his final shot of the first end didn’t go as planned and he was forced to give up a steal of one to open the scoring.
The two teams traded singles in two and three, Stoughton blanked the fourth and retained the hammer for the fifth but over-curled his final rock and gave up another steal of one. Stoughton settled for a single in six.
Scotland’s Eve Muirhead meets Sweden’s Margaretha Sigfridsson for the women’s title in a rematch of the world championship final. Muirhead stole two in the eighth and one in the extra end to edge Saskatoon’s Stefanie Lawton 6-5 and Sigfridsson doubled up on Winnipeg’s Jennifer Jones 8-4.
