 Edmonton's Jacob Libbus Upsets Defending World Champion Niklas Edin 8-7 at Curling Stadium Speedy Creek Shootout Quarterfinal in Swift Current. By Connor Simms, Jacob Libbus, with Nathan Molberg at third, Zachary Pawliuk at second, and Michael Henricks at lead, pulled off a major upset against reigning World Champion Niklas Edin in the quarterfinals of the Curling Stadium Speedy Creek Shootout. Libbus entered the quarterfinals with a 3-2 record in the 18-team qualifying round. He opened the event with a 6-2 victory over Ethan Sampson (Chaska, MN) but then fell 7-5 to Riku Yanagisawa (Karuizawa, JPN). He rebounded with a narrow 7-6 win against Jayden King (London, ON) before suffering a 7-2 loss to Edin. Libbus secured his playoff spot with a 6-3 win over James Ballance (Okotoks/Edmonton, AB) in his final round-robin match. Edin, on the other hand, dominated the round-robin with a perfect 5-0 record. He opened with a 7-3 win over Ballance, followed by a 5-1 victory against King and a 4-2 win over Sampson. Edin then defeated Libbus 7-2 before closing out the round-robin with a 5-4 win over Yanagisawa. In Sunday morning's quarterfinal action, Edin had the hammer due to his undefeated round-robin record. The game took a dramatic turn early when Edin came up light on a draw in the first end, resulting in a steal of three for Libbus. Edin managed to salvage a single in the second end after narrowly winning a measure. In the fourth end, Libbus executed a perfect freeze, forcing Edin into a difficult nose tap, which he overthrew, resulting in another steal of one. Edin bounced back in the fifth end with a deuce but missed an opportunity for three after failing to stick on a hit. Libbus responded with a deuce of his own in the sixth end, executing a perfect draw behind a couple of guards. Edin was forced to a single in the seventh end, drawing to the eight-foot. In the eighth and final end, Libbus maintained control of the open rings and executed a hit-and-stick on his last shot to seal the 8-7 victory. With the win, Libbus advances to the semifinals, where he will face Saskatchewan's Rylan Kleiter at 12:30 p.m. Mountain Time (MT). The two teams met earlier this season at the ATB Okotoks Classic, where Kleiter secured a dominant 7-1 victory. In the other semifinal, Manitoba's Jordan McDonald will take on Czechia's Lukas Klima. Watch all the action live on the CurlingZone YouTube page or by clicking the red play button next to the score on the CurlingZone website. |
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Nova Scotia's Christina Black (Photo: Micheal Burns/Curling Canada) is set to kick off their season at the Asham Ice Breaker Challenge in Morris, Manitoba.
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