Saskatoon鈥檚 Steve Laycock saw his run at the Pinty鈥檚 Grand Slam of Curling鈥檚 Meridian Canadian Open come to an end on Saturday afternoon at the North Battleford Civic Centre.
Laycock and his rink out of the Nutana Curling Club were knocked out of the playoffs in the men鈥檚 quarter-finals after losing a 5-2 affair to Brad Gushue鈥檚 rink from St. John鈥檚, N.L.
鈥淲hen we were down two losses on Wednesday afternoon, we would have accepted a quarter-final result at that point,鈥� Laycock said.
鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 feel great now coming off of the ice after a tough loss, but this was a big weekend for us. Getting into the playoffs at a Grand Slam event is no easy feat and now we have a couple of weeks to work on some things before we head to the provincials in Tisdale.鈥�
Gushue had a phenomenal performance against Laycock as he shot 100 per cent to earn a spot in tonight鈥檚 semifinals.
鈥淚t was a pretty even game for most of the way I thought,鈥� Team Gushue third Mark Nichols said. 鈥淲e were just able to capitalize on a couple of mistakes that the other rink made.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been pretty consistent but there鈥檚 always room for improvement. We鈥檒l need to be extra sharp tonight though.鈥�
The Gushue foursome will be going up Sault Ste Marie, Ont.鈥檚 Brad Jacobs at 8 p.m.
The 2014 Olympic gold medalist advanced to the semifinals after an impressive 7-3 win over Winnipeg鈥檚 Mike McEwen.
鈥淚 think it was another solid team performance for us,鈥� Team Jacobs second E.J. Harnden said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 something we can build off of heading into the semifinals and we鈥檙e all really happy with how we played in this one.鈥�
The other semifinal game tonight will see Sweden鈥檚 Niklas Edin take on John Morris of Vernon, B.C.
Edin, who was won two Grand Slam of Curling event this year, made quick work of Edmonton鈥檚 Brendan Bottcher in a 7-1 contest that lasted just five ends.
鈥淲e鈥檝e had almost two full days of rest now and we felt like we really didn鈥檛 play our best during the knockout phase,鈥� Edin said.
鈥淲hat we focused on was how to play better in the playoff games from top to bottom. You can never have full control of the final result, of course, but I felt like we played solid from start to finish.鈥�
Morris also won by a score of 7-1, though he was able to steal four points from John Shuster in the sixth end after a botched runback attempt from the American skip.
鈥淚t should have been a one or two point game, as it was a much closer battle than what it will look like on the scoreboard,鈥� Morris said.
鈥淭he Shuster rink is playing well right now, but we鈥檙e very fortunate to have a guy like (fourth stone thrower) Jim (Cotter) playing for us. He鈥檚 shooting the lights out right now.鈥�
The women鈥檚 quarter-finals will take place at 4 p.m. today and will feature two first-time playoff teams at a Grand Slam event.
Lethbridge鈥檚 Casey Scheidegger will take on Winnipeg鈥檚 Jennifer Jones, while Jacqueline Harrison of Mississauga will play Switzerland鈥檚 Silvana Tirinzoni.
The other two matchups will see Anna Hasselborg of Sweden battle Allison Flaxey of Caledon, Ont., while Edmonton鈥檚 Val Sweeting goes up against Sudbury鈥檚 Tracy Fleury.
