Howard stays perfect at Players’ Championship to earn playoff spot
TORONTO — Glenn Howard improved to a 3-0 record and clinched a playoff berth at the Players’ Championship after edging Brad Gushue 5-4 in an extra end during Thursday’s afternoon action at Ryerson’s Mattamy Athletic Centre.
Howard held the hammer in OT and drew to the button with his final rock to qualify with one round-robin game still on tap Friday against Winnipeg’s Mike McEwen. Team Howard, based in Coldwater, Ont., won the Canadian Open in December but missed the playoffs one month later at the National.
The loss levelled Gushue and his team from St. John’s, N.L., to a 1-1 record in the fourth and final Grand Slam of Curling tournament this season.
Joe Frans of Bradford, Ont., also needed an extra end to slip past Calgary’s Kevin Koe 7-6 and Norway’s Thomas Ulsrud scored four in the sixth end during an 8-2 thumping over Saskatoon’s Steve Laycock. Ulsrud and Koe hold 2-1 records while Frans and Laycock sit at 1-1.
Greg Balsdon (1-2) picked his first victory of the tournament with an 8-2 win over Mark Kean (0-3) in an all-Toronto matchup on home ice.
Winnipeg’s Chelsea Carey stole two in the final end to complete a 9-6 comeback over Mirjam Ott of Switzerland in the lone women’s game on the draw. Carey climbed to a 1-1 record while Ott fell to 1-2.
Round-robin play runs through to Friday with the quarterfinals and semifinals set for Saturday and both men’s and women’s finals scheduled for Sunday.
