News Canadian Open

MEDICINE HAT, Alta. — Calgary’s Kevin Koe pulled off an incredible clutch shot with the final rock of the game to edge Brad Gushue of St. John’s, N.L., 5-4 and win the Canadian Open title Sunday.

Koe held the hammer coming home with the game all square and connected with a rock at the side of the house to redirect his shooter to the button for the winning single point.

It’s the second Grand Slam of Curling title for Koe as skip after capturing the Masters almost a year ago in Brantford, Ont.

The team of Koe, third Pat Simmons, second Carter Rycroft and lead Nolan Thiessen took home $24,000 and finished the tournament with a 6-1 record as they appear all tuned up for Canadian Olympic curling trials taking place in two weeks in Winnipeg with an opportunity to represent Canada at the 2014 Sochi Winter Games.

“Obviously we’re trying to peak for Winnipeg and this was a big part,” Koe said. “We didn’t want to get pumped up too early in the season and it showed a bit in our early season results which were okay but not stellar. To come through and win this is a good feeling.” 

Koe opened with the hammer and converted for a deuce in the opening end. Gushue matched with a pair in three and stole a point in four when Koe missed his shot to score three. As it turned out, that motivated him to land the game-winner.

“I didn’t think I threw it too bad in four but it went dead straight and we went into that final shot knowing exactly what it was going to do and all I had to do was throw it good,” Koe said. “I’m glad we pulled it off.” 

Koe topped Rob Rumfeldt of Guelph, Ont., 7-4 in the quarterfinals and beat Masters champion Glenn Howard 4-3 in an extra end during the semifinals preventing the Penetanguishene, Ont., skip from claiming the $1-million bonus if his team had won all four Grand Slam titles this season.

Gushue’s road to the final followed heartbreak when his team fell to Brad Jacobs of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., a week ago for the last spot in the Olympic Trials. The 2006 Olympic gold medallist Gushue began the Canadian Open in a 1-2 hole until his team turned things around winning four straight including a 7-4 win over Edmonton’s Kevin Martin in the quarterfinals and a 4-2 victory over Winnipeg’s Jeff Stoughton in the semifinals.

“We started off with the big disappointment of not getting through the pre-trials and to be quite honest the motivation here was pretty low and it showed on Thursday when we lost two out of three games,” said Gushue, who earned $14,000 CAD for finishing runner-up. “We had a good conversation Thursday night and basically said we’re out here now, let’s give it 110 percent. The way our team turned around on Friday and the way we performed even today was a true sign of how resilient our team is and how competitive even though our Olympic dreams ended.”

Gushue’s Olympic dream isn’t over yet, however, as he accepted an invitation to join Team Martin as their alternate.