(by Jonathan Brazeau)
TRURO, N.S. — Sweden’s Niklas Edin has flipped the script in the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling.
Niklas Edin shoots a stone during the ninth round-robin draw of the Canadian Beef Masters on Oct. 25, 2018, in Truro, N.S. (Anil Mungal)
After missing the playoffs at the season-opening Princess Auto Elite 10, as well as last year’s Humpty’s Champions Cup finale, Edin’s crew qualified for the quarterfinals at the Canadian Beef Masters.
The three-time GSOC title winners scored their third consecutive win to remain undefeated by beating Team Brad Jacobs of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., 8-2 during Thursday’s evening draw at Rath Eastlink Community Centre.
“It’s been two Slams in a row now, the Champions Cup last year and the Elite 10 we didn’t qualify, so we’re not used to that,” said Team Edin third Oskar Eriksson. “It’s good to bounce back here and sitting good right now going into the playoffs.”
While Team Edin climbed to a 3-0 record, Team Jacobs headed in the opposite direction to 0-3.
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Team Brad Gushue of St. John’s, NL {which includes PEI’s Brett Gallant], fought off the jet lag for another night to pull off a 5-2 victory over Winnipeg’s Team Reid Carruthers in a repeat of Princess Auto Elite 10 final. Gushue, who grabbed his 11th career GSOC title last month, arrived to the Canadian Beef Masters straight from competing at the China Open and is now up 2-0 while Carruthers sits at 2-1.
Reigning world champions Team Jennifer Jones of Winnipeg also made the trek halfway around the world from Chongqing and appear unfazed by fatigue, too, as they qualified for the playoffs.
“We’re actually surprisingly not bad,” Team J. Jones second Jocelyn Peterman said. “As soon as we got off the plane, we convinced ourselves that we were on Truro time, so it’s been good.”
Jones earned her third straight win of the Canadian Beef Masters defeating Scotland’s Team Eve Muirhead 5-3. Muirhead slipped to a 0-3 record.
Gushue and Jones are the defending Canadian Beef Masters champions capturing the titles a year ago in Lloydminster, Sask., with unblemished 7-0 records.
Team Tracy Fleury of East St. Paul, Man., wrapped up their round-robin set early with a 2-2 record and now have a day off to play the waiting game to determine where they land next. Fleury finished things off with a commanding 7-2 win over reigning world junior champions Team Kaitlyn Jones (2-1) of Halifax {which includes PEI’s Lauren Lenentine. The Kaitlyn Jones rink’s final round robin game is at 11:30 am against Team Rachel Homan.]
The Canadian Beef Masters is the second event and first major of the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling season with 15 of the top men’s teams and 15 of the top women’s teams from around the world. Divisions are split into three pools for round-robin play during the week with the top eight overall qualifying for Saturday’s quarterfinals. The semifinals and finals are set for Sunday.
Round-robin action continues Friday at 8 a.m. AT with broadcast coverage resuming at 11:30 a.m. AT on Sportsnet and online at Sportsnet NOW (Canada) and Yare (international).
NOTES: Winners take home $30,000 of the $250,000 total purse plus berths to the season-ending Humpty’s Champions Cup in April. … Points are also on the line for the Pinty’s Cup, which is awarded to the overall season champions following the conclusion of the Players’ Championship.
Click for the full story at the Grand Slam of Curling website.