Dunstone doubles up on Edin to earn pivotal first win in KIOTI National

PICTOU COUNTY, N.S. — Better late than never, Matt Dunstone and his Winnipeg-based club are into the win column at the KIOTI National.

After a 0-2 start to the Grand Slam of Curling tournament, Dunstone needed a victory Thursday afternoon against Niklas Edin's squad from Sweden to remain in playoff contention.

Dunstone stepped it up, shooting a game-high 97 per cent to lead his team past Edin 6-3 at the Pictou County Wellness Centre.

"I’m glad we were able to rise to it today and pick up a big win against a great team, obviously," Dunstone said. "Ultimately, it keeps us still alive going into tomorrow."

Dunstone is looking to perform well this week in particular as KIOTI also supports his team. They're also coming off of a tour victory at the Soo Curlers Fall Classic, which was sponsored by KIOTI as well.

"KIOTI is such a great sponsor of us, a great sponsor of the Grand Slams," Dunstone said. "They’re putting on events for us, we feel like we’re playing the KIOTI tour out here and it’s awesome.

"Hopefully, we can pick up a win in the morning and just continue to carry on. I think last Slam three-quarters of the finalists between men’s and ladies went 2-2 in the round-robin, so hopefully, we can write that story this week."

Edin opened with the hammer and blanked the first end but had to settle for a single in the second. Dunstone made a precise double takeout on his first skip stone to lie three counters and set the table for the force.

With Edin leading 2-1, Dunstone pulled off another one of his patented doubles in the fifth end — this time with the hammer — to score a deuce and pull ahead.

"It’s been a struggle the first two games so it’s nice to finally go out there, make some shots and build some confidence," Dunstone said. "The first two games, I wasn’t making those or pretty much anything. It’s nice to come up and make a couple big ones. Hopefully, we carry that into tomorrow."

Edin, who shot 88 per cent in the game, tied it up with a short raise for a single in the sixth but was just light enough on his last in the seventh and Dunstone capitalized to draw for three.

It looked like Edin would have an opportunity to score the equalizing three until he flashed his first skip stone. That allowed Dunstone to fire, you guessed it, a double takeout to run Edin (2-1) out of rocks.

Dunstone still needs to win his last round-robin game Friday against Owen Purcell's Halifax-based team plus have a good enough shootout total in order to advance to the quarterfinals.

Meanwhile, Purcell (1-2) picked up his first-ever win in a Grand Slam with a 7-2 victory over 2018 Olympic gold medallist John Shuster and his team from the United States.

"It feels great," Purcell said. "We’ve been struggling the first couple games here, like figuring out the ice and the environment’s different.

"I think today we did a very good job at just trusting what we were seeing, putting the broom down in the right spot, throwing nice positive rocks and playing patiently, like not getting a little bit too far ahead of ourselves. It feels good to have a good game against them because they’re Olympic champions."

Team Purcell kicked things off with a three-ender in the first and rolled away on the steal train swiping singles in four consecutive ends. Shuster broke the shutout with a deuce in the sixth and then shook hands as his team has now been eliminated from the playoff mix at 0-3.

Purcell said it was an honour to receive a sponsor's invite to compete in the event and make his series debut.

"It’s always been a dream of mine to play in front of a home crowd," Purcell said. "We’re getting lots of cheers out there. It’s just so much fun and looking forward to the next one as well."

Italy's Team Joël Retornaz moved to the top of the men's table at 3-0 following a 4-2 decision against Scotland's Team Bruce Mouat (2-1).

Scotland's Team Ross Whyte defeated Team Aaron Sluchinski of Airdrie, Alta., 8-4. Both clubs now hold 2-1 records.

UP NEXT

The KIOTI National continues with Draw 11 at 3 p.m. ET / 12 p.m. PT on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+.

NOTES

The KIOTI National is the second event of the Grand Slam of Curling season featuring 16 of the top men's teams and 16 of the top women's teams from around the world. ... Each team plays four round-robin games with the top eight advancing to Saturday's quarterfinals. ... The semifinals are also on tap Saturday with both finals scheduled for Sunday.