It was another steady performance for Steve Laycock and his Saskatoon-based rink on Friday morning at the North Battleford Civic Centre.
In his second straight must-win game at the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling’s Meridian Canadian Open, Laycock was able to pull away late from Kingston’s Greg Balsdon on his way to an 8-4 win.
“We’re starting to stack together some shots and we’re not leaving any duds out there,” Team Laycock third Kirk Muyres said. “We had that last night as well against McCormick, and we had a little bit of luck on our side against Balsdon as they gave us a real fight.
“We’re starting to get more and more consistent out there, and that’s giving us a chance to be in these games and have a chance to win right until the very end. If we can shoot around 85 percent as a team, we’ll be in the mix.”
Edmonton’s Brendan Bottcher ended John Epping’s chances of a second straight Canadian Open title in the morning draw, as he knocked out the Toronto based rink with an 8-3 win.
“We’ve been solid in every game this week, except maybe for our loss against (John) Shuster on Wednesday,” Team Bottcher third Darren Moulding said.
“When we got the first three-ender in the second end, that kind of tipped things in our favour, and then we pretty much took control of things after we stole three points in the fourth end.”
Moulding was called into the Bottcher lineup just before the tournament as the team parted ways with Moose Jaw’s Pat Simmons.
“I got a call on Dec. 23 if I could join the guys so I had about 10 days to get geared up for coming to town,” Moulding said.
“It’s actually been a fairly easy process and it’s been a lot more seamless than I thought it would be. I’ll be travelling with the guys to Europe in a couple of weeks, but then will see what happens from there.”
After two surprising losses, Ottawa’s Rachel Homan got back on track Friday morning as she eliminated Russia’s Anna Sidorova from the event with an 8-3 victory.
Over in the ‘B’ bracket, Kelsey Rocque of Edmonton edged out China’s Bingyu Wang by a score of 4-3 and Sweden’s Anna Hasselborg earned a 7-6 victory over Casey Scheidegger of Lethbridge.
Play will resume at 11:30 a.m. and will see three playoffs berths up for grabs in the ‘B’ event bracket on the men’s side.
Edmonton’s Charley Thomas will take on American John Shuster, John Morris and his Vernon, B.C. rink will face Calgary’s Kevin Koe and Winnipeg’s Mike McEwen will square off against St. John’s Brad Gushue in a game that will be broadcast national on Sportsnet.
A playoff spot will also be available in the women’s event, as Jennifer Jones of Winnipeg will face Jacqueline Harrison of Mississauga.
Saskatoon’s Bruce Korte will be in a must-win game in the men’s ‘C’ event as he’ll play Winnipeg’s Reid Carruthers.
