![]() Ontario's Mark Kean defeated Scotland's Kyle Wadell 7-6 to win the Stu Sells Toronto Tankard at the High Park Club. By Connor Simms, #40 World-Ranked Mark Kean, with Brady Lumley at third, Matthew Garner and Spencer Dunlop on the front end, were firing in their third event of the season. In their first event, they finished in the C-qualifier game, losing to Minnesota's Korey Dropkin at the Stu Sells Oakville Tankard. They followed that up by missing the playoffs at the Hogged Rock KW Fall Classic with a 2-2 record. This team has been together for a few years now, showing signs of making the next steps while continuing to climb the world rankings. They are a top competitor at the Ontario Tankard this season, where Mark looks to return to his first Brier since 2015. Brady, Matthew and Spencer will look to make their first career Brier. This week, they are at the Stu Sells Toronto Tankard. Last season, they missed the playoffs at this event. They finished with a 3-3 record, losing to Ontario's Sam Mooibroek in the C-side semi-final. Kean went 2-1 through the round robin. In their opening game, Kean defeated Japan's Takumi Maeda 5-2, then won 7-5 against Ontario's Pat Ferris. Kean then went on to lose 7-1 against Quebec's Michael Fournier in their final qualifying round match. With a 2-1 record, they earned a spot in the 9-16 qualifiers, needing to win every game to claim the event title. They rallied off wins against Korea's JaeBem Lee, 7-0. then defeated Ontario's Kibo Mulima 8-5 in the qualifier game. In the quarter finals, they defeated Fournier in their rematch 7-5. They then defeated Quebec's Jean-Michel Menard 5-1 in the semi-final. This set up a match with Scotland's Kyle Waddell in the final. Waddell's squad consists of Mark Watt at third, Angus Bryce and Blair Haswell on the front end. Waddell started with the hammer due to their perfect record through the round robin. Waddell was forced to their single in the first end, making a draw to the eight-foot. Kean was quick to capitalize with three points, making a draw through a port. In the third end, Waddell had an opportunity to get three points back, but rolled out on the lightweight takeout, settling for their deuce. Waddell stole a point in the fourth when Kean came up just heavy on a draw against two. In the fifth end, Kean made a runback to promote their stone to the button for their single point. Kena broke open the game in the sixth end, after Waddell missed the line call on a slash for their single, giving up a steal of two. Waddell tied the game up in the seventh end after making an open hit and stick fr two points. Kean needed to draw to the four-foot for the win, and ended up executing it perfectly to take the 7-6 victory. This win gives Kean plenty of momentum heading into the Canadian Olympic Pre-Trials in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, from October 20th-26th. On the Women's side, Korea's Seungyoun Ha defeated Switzerland's Silvana Tirinzoni 5-4 in the final. |