FORT MCMURRAY, Alta. — Calgary’s Kevin Koe has grabbed a bye to the semifinals of the Syncrude Elite 10 after defeating Toronto’s John Epping during the final round robin draw Friday night.
Koe had to settle for a push in the opening end but stole the following three ends and stayed in control during the 3 & 2 victory.
Team Koe finished with a 3-1 overall record in the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling event and secured the top seed. Epping ended at 1-3 and was eliminated.
“You come here and you want to get to the playoffs and then see what happens from there but we managed to slip into the semifinals so that’s big,” Team Koe second Brent Laing said. “It’s a bit of a different format, lots of fun to play but so far so good.”
Syncrude Elite 10: Scores | Standings
The Syncrude Elite 10 uses match play rules. Teams compete to win the most ends by either scoring two or more points (with hammer) or steal at least one point (without hammer). If an end is blanked, the hammer switches and points do not carry over. Winning scores indicate how many ends a team was up by and if there were any ends not played (e.g. a team that won 3 & 2 finished the game 3-up after six ends).
“It’s basically skins with no carryovers, which is just like eight mini-games every game,” Laing explained. “Lots of rocks in play, lots of different shots and lots of excitement. I think it’s been great.”
Elsewhere, Sweden’s Niklas Edin scored four ends to get a 4 & 3 victory over Glenn Howard, of Penetanguishene, Ont. Edin earned a deuce in the opening end and steals in two and three to go 3-up and iced the game with another point in the fifth end.
Both teams finished at 2-2 and will meet again in the tiebreaker Saturday at 9:30 a.m. MT. The winner will face Winnipeg’s Reid Carruthers in the quarterfinals.
Carruthers (3-1) scored in the second, stole the third and picked up another points in five and seven during a 3 & 1 victory over Saskatoon’s Steve Laycock (0-4).
The other quarterfinal game (Saturday, 1 p.m. MT on CBC) sees a rematch of the Masters final between Brad Gushue of St. John’s, N.L., and Winnipeg’s Mike McEwen.
Team Brad Jacobs secured the second bye to the semifinals after topping Epping 4 & 2 in Draw 6.
Jacobs bounced back in Fort McMurray after missing the playoffs during the Syncrude National last season.
“It feels great. We’ve redeemed ourselves from last year, we didn’t play too well last year but this year we’ve qualified and that’s one goal completed,” Jacobs said. “I’m just really proud of the way the guys came out and played today. We played pretty awesome, really had a good handle on the ice and the rocks and I think that’s why we played so well and made so many shots.”