News National

PORT HAWKESBURY, N.S. — Edmonton’s Kevin Martin needed thievery to maintain his perfect run at the National Grand Slam of Curling. 

All tied up against Calgary’s Kevin Koe, Martin stole one in the seventh and two in the eighth end to slip past his Alberta rival 6-3 during the final round-robin draw Friday night. 

Martin enters the playoffs as the No. 1 seed with an undefeated 5-0 record and will face the winner of a tiebreaker between Brad Gushue of St. John’s, N.L., and Saskatoon’s Steve Laycock in Saturday’s quarterfinals.

Koe (3-2) is set to face undefeated Rob Fowler of Brandon, Man., in the quarterfinals. Fowler finished at 5-0 following a 7-2 victory over Glenn Howard of Coldwater, Ont. Howard, the defending champion and most recent Grand Slam winner, was eliminated with a 2-3 record as Fowler broke a 1-1 tie in the fourth with a three-ender and added another three count in the sixth for early handshakes.

Winnipeg’s Jeff Stoughton broke a tie in the seventh with a deuce and added a single in the eighth for the 7-4 win over Jim Cotter. Stoughton has now won three consecutive games to advance to the playoffs after starting the tournament with a pair of losses. Cotter’s crew from Kelowna/Vernon, B.C., dropped to 2-3 and was eliminated. 

Stoughton is now set to challenge Brad Jacobs of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., in the quarterfinals. Jacobs, who finished runner-up to Howard in December’s Canadian Open, wrapped up round-robin play earlier with a 4-1 record.

Winnipeg’s Mike McEwen scored four points in the sixth to seal a 9-3 win over Peter de Cruz of Switzerland. McEwen ended the round-robin portion with a 4-1 record and meets Sweden’s Niklas Edin (3-2) in the quarterfinals. De Cruz finished the tournament at 1-4.

Toronto’s Greg Balsdon held on for an 8-6 win over Sven Michel of Switzerland. Both teams are out with 2-3 records.

The semifinals follow the quarterfinals Saturday evening with the final set for Sunday.