The Battle of the Brads is now also the Battle of Mark and Marc.
Mark Nichols, third for Team Brad Gushue, and Marc Kennedy, third for Team Brad Jacobs, faced off in the all-important draw to the button for the hammer to begin their round-robin match Friday in the Humpty’s Champions Cup at Calgary’s WinSport Arena.
They say curling is a game of inches; well, this one was even tighter as Kennedy was only 1.4 cm away from the pin, however, Nichols covered the hole completely. That allowed Gushue to begin with last-rock advantage and control the game right from the start, converting with a three-ender in the second en route to a commanding 8-1 victory.
Team Gushue, of St. John’s, N.L., climbed to a 2-0 record while Team Jacobs, from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., is now even at 1-1 with two more group games to go for each.
Gushue channelled mixed doubles teammate Kerri Einarson by connecting with a double takeout to score his three and then pulled off a raise double in the third that set the table for a steal of two when Jacobs came up light on his last. Jacobs was forced to a single in four, Gushue took two more points in five and stole another one in six to end the night early.
Gushue also got out to a quick start in his 5-2 win Thursday over Team Matt Dunstone of Wadena, Sask., and his schedule doesn’t get any easier. After starting off by facing the only two teams that won Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling men’s titles last season, Gushue has world bronze medallists Team Peter de Cruz of Switzerland and world silver medallists Team Bruce Mouat of Scotland on tap Saturday.
Meanwhile, Mouat moved up to a 3-0 record and into the playoffs with a 6-3 set against Dunstone, who fell to 0-2 and is on the brink of elimination.
Calgary’s Team Kevin Koe clobbered Edmonton’s Team Brendan Bottcher 8-2 in just five ends during a rematch of last month’s Brier final. Koe, who fell to Bottcher in the gold-medal game, scored three in the third and five in the fifth while limiting Bottcher to singles in the even ends. Both teams are at 2-1.
Winnipeg’s Team Mike McEwen (1-2) grabbed their pivotal first win doubling up 8-4 on Team de Cruz (0-2). Reid Carruthers has moved up to skip with McEwen away on paternity leave after his wife Dawn, who plays lead for Jennifer Jones, gave birth to their second child on Thursday. Tyler Tardi of Langley, B.C., is subbing at third with second Derek Samagalski rounding out the lineup as just a trio as lead Colin Hodgson (personal) opted out of the bubble.
The Humpty’s Champions Cup is the first of back-to-back Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling events featuring 12 of the top men’s teams and 12 of the top women’s teams from around the world. The series is testing a new rule at the Humpty’s Champions Cup called the no tick zone. A rock touching the centre line, in the free guard zone, may not be moved off the centre line by the opposing team until the sixth rock of the end.
The event is closed to the general public. Round-robin play continues Friday at 10 p.m. ET / 8 p.m. local time on Sportsnet 360 with online streaming at Sportsnet Now (Canada) and Yare (international).
Pool play runs through to Saturday with quarterfinals and semifinals on Sunday and both finals set for Monday. The Princess Auto Players’ Championship begins Tuesday.
