(by Jason Simmonds)
SUMMERSIDE – Mike McEwen of Winnipeg capped a perfect round-robin showing at the 2014 Players’ Championship early Friday evening.
© Jason Simmonds/Journal Pioneer
Second stone Adam Casey of Seven Mile Bay follows his shot while third stone Brett Gallant, right, and lead Geoff Walker are ready to sweep during action in the 2014 Players’ Championship in Summerside.
McEwen pulled out a nail-biting 7-6 victory over Olympic gold-medallist Brad Jacobs to up his mark to 5-0.
“We have one hell of a five-rock (rule) record,” said McEwen, who defeated John Epping 7-4 on Friday morning. “We are 18-1 now, I think. It’s crazy. It’s not always pretty out there, but we seem to find ways to win with the five-rock rule. I’m not complaining!”
The men are playing with the five-rock rule this week, and the women are using the four-rock rule.
McEwen and Brad Gushue (4-1), who doubled Steve Laycock (1-4) by an 8-4 count in the noon-hour draw, earned byes to Saturday’s semifinals at 8:30 p.m.
“We had one good end where we were able to score four (in the fourth end), and that gave us the edge for the second half,” said Brett Gallant, third stone of the Gushue rink. “We didn’t quite play our best, but we seemed to make the right shots at the right time.”
Must-win games
Epping scored three deuces in a 7-4 triumph over Niklas Edin (2-3), and Jacobs topped Jeff Stoughton 7-4 in Friday night’s final round-robin games to earn the final two spots in the quarter-finals, which are scheduled for Saturday at 5 p.m.
“There’s always the debate that it’s always nice to play an extra playoff game,” said McEwen. “But when it’s do-or-die, I’ll take the bye any day.