News Masters

SELKIRK, Man. — Calgary’s Kevin Koe and Winnipeg’s Mike McEwen charged out of the gate at the Masters to open their pool schedules with big victories during Draw 4 Wednesday afternoon.

Koe crushed Jim Cotter of Vernon, B.C., 12-5 thanks to a huge six-ender in the seventh and McEwen cruised to a 10-3 win in six ends over Scotland’s David Murdoch.

It’s the first Grand Slam of Curling tournament for Koe and his revamped powerhouse roster featuring lead Ben Hebert and third Marc Kennedy, both formerly with Kevin Martin, plus second Brent Laing, who previously played with Glenn Howard. Koe and broke a 1-1 tie with a three-ender in the third. The teams alternated deuces in the fourth and fifth and Cotter responded with another two count in the sixth to close within one, but Koe’s huge score of six in the seventh iced the game.

“We got an early lead with that three and they didn’t go away,” Kennedy said. “They made a lot of good shots to stay in the game. I thought we played really well, the ice was fantastic, lots of great shots being made. We got a good break here in the last end, we got a miss out of them finally and were able to put them away. All in all, a good start for Team Koe.”

Meanwhile, Team McEwen entered the Masters on a roll winning four titles in four tournaments to start the season. They hit the ice running scoring two in the opening end and stealing three in the second for an early 5-0 lead. The Olympic silver medallist Murdoch settled for one in the third to get on the board, but McEwen padded his lead with another three-ender in the fourth. The teams traded deuces in five and six.

In the women’s division, Switzerland’s Silvana Tirinzoni scored one in the final end to edge Sherry Middaugh of Coldwater, Ont., 6-5. Both teams now hold 1-1 records.

Margaretha Sigfridsson of Sweden toppled Winnipeg’s Kristy McDonald 10-2 in only five ends. Sigfridsson (1-0) scored three in the first, stole two in the second and added another steal of one in the third to lead 6-0. McDonald (1-1) earned a deuce in the fourth but Sigfridsson replied with a score of four in the fifth and the teams shook hands.

Reigning world champion Binia Feltscher of Switzerland scored one in the final end to edge Scotland’s Eve Muirhead 7-6. Feltscher (2-0) jumped ahead 5-2 with a single in the third and stole four in the fourth. Muirhead (0-2) battled back with deuces in the fifth and seventh ends.