 Saskatoon's Mike McEwen (Photo: Anil Mungal/GSOC) took one in the extra end to give his team their third straight victory of the event. By: Cameron Sallaj It's moving day at the Princess Auto Players' Championship in Toronto with six playoff spots up for grabs on the men's and women's sides. In Draw 10, the featured matchup saw 2024 Brier silver medalists Team Mike McEwen battle against 2023 Brier runners-up Team Matt Dunstone. The Saskatchewan rink was looking to make it three straight wins while the Manitoba side tried to avoid elimination. Starting with hammer, Dunstone blanked the opening end before scoring one in the second. McEwen then got two back in the third with Dunstone blanking again in four. Down one in the fifth, the Winnipeg rink of Dunstone, B. J. Neufeld, Colton Lott and Ryan Harnden got their first multi-point end of the game, taking two to go ahead 3-2. Their lead did not last long, however, as McEwen immediately responded with two right back to keep an tight 4-3 score. In the seventh, Matt Dunstone elected to give up a steal of one instead of taking his single point. This put his team down two and needing to score at least two to force an extra or three for the win. With a pile of stones in the rings in eight, Dunstone had an opportunity for a triple takeout for the three points needed to win. He got two but wasn't able to push the third McEwen rock far enough, sending the game to an extra end. Mike McEwen ensured the win for his team of Colton Flasch, Kevin Marsh and Dan Marsh with a peel shot on his last rock to count one, taking the game 6-5 and improving to 3-0. The McEwen foursome have been on a roll this season, rising to number nine in the world rankings. This includes a silver medal at the Brier, the Saskatchewan provincial championship and playoff appearances in eight of twelve tour events. While the team has yet to qualify for the playoffs in a Slam this season, they are well on their way with three straight wins to start this week. Not only are teams competing for the Players' Championship title this week, but they are also trying to earn valuable points that will go towards the pre-qualifier positions for the Scotties and Brier. Currently, Dunstone holds the final spot, but McEwen is trailing closely behind. A good finish this week could allow the Saskatchewan rink a direct berth into next year's Brier in Kelowna. With two games to go in the round robin, Team McEwen will face Scotland's James Craik and Switzerland's Yannick Schwaller. Dunstone, now 1-3, will need a win against Craik in their final game as well as some good luck if they want to have any chance of reaching the knockout round. In other Draw 10 action, Scotland's Bruce Mouat took four in the fourth end en route to a 7-5 victory over Sweden's Niklas Edin. The Scotts climbed to 3-1 while the world champions dropped to 1-2. The all-Swedish contest ended in the favor of Isabella Wrana who drew the button to clinch an 8-7 win against Anna Hasselborg. Wrana, the defending Players' champion, is now 3-1 while Hasselborg has work to do at 1-2. South Korea's Team Kim Eun-jung also improved to 3-1, stealing one in the eighth end to solve Winnipeg's Team Kaitlyn Lawes 4-3. The Manitoba skip elected to hit on her final stone but couldn't stick her shooter, resulting in a Korean win. The Princess Auto Players' Championship continues Thursday with Draw 11 at 7:30 PM Eastern Time. The featured matchup will see a classic battle between Rachel Homan and Jennifer Jones. |
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World number three ranked Gyeonggi Province's Gim Eun-ji (Photo: Curling1spoon) defend their national title in a thrilling extra end final Monday in Uijeongbu.
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