Friday鈥檚 night draw at the Pinty鈥檚 Grand Slam of Curling鈥檚 Meridian Canadian Open saw the biggest roar from the crowd to date at the North Battleford Civic Centre.
That came when Saskatoon鈥檚 Steve Laycock punched his ticket into Saturday鈥檚 quarter-final after a 7-3 win over Edmonton鈥檚 Charley Thomas.
鈥淭hat was a lot of fun out there tonight, especially with everyone cheering us on,鈥� Laycock said. 鈥淚鈥檓 not sure if that gave some extra focus, but it couldn鈥檛 have hurt us any.鈥�
After losing his first two games of the tournament, Laycock rattled off three straight wins in the 鈥楥鈥� bracket and has earned a date with Brad Gushue in Saturday鈥檚 quarter-finals.
鈥淲e had some momentum last night (with a win over Heath McCormick) and we just built off of that,鈥� Laycock said.
鈥淲e had a couple of challenges this morning against (Greg) Balsdon but we worked through it and we had best game of the week for sure here tonight.鈥�
Saskatoon鈥檚 Bruce Korte saw his tournament come to an end in disappointing fashion as he suffered a 7-1 loss to Winnipeg鈥檚 Mike McEwen in a 鈥楥鈥� final.
鈥淭he score definitely doesn鈥檛 do that game justice,鈥� McEwen, who will play Brad Jacobs in the quarter-finals, said. 鈥淭hey were making some great runbacks and blasting a lot of rocks around.
鈥淏ruce was just an inch away from tying the game in the second end, but we ended up getting a steal of one to take a 3-0 lead. He also had a really tough draw in the fourth end that didn鈥檛 work out for them, and that was pretty much the ball game after that.鈥�
Despite the tough loss, the experience in North Battleford was a great one for the Korte rink as they gear up for the Saskatchewan men鈥檚 provincial playdowns in Tisdale.
鈥淭his has been one of the best curling events that I鈥檝e been a part of,鈥� Team Korte third Kevin Marsh said. 鈥淭he crowds here have been awesome and we鈥檝e been able to play against some great teams.
鈥淲e couldn鈥檛 have asked for anything more, except for maybe a win to finish things off.鈥�
The other 鈥楥鈥� final saw Edmonton鈥檚 Brendan Bottcher knock out reigning world champion Kevin Koe of Calgary by a score of 6-4.
鈥淲e got a big three-ender in the first end, which was nice, but you have to remind yourself that there is still seven ends left to play,鈥� Bottcher said.
鈥淭he Koe rink is one of the best at grinding ends out and you have to play seven solid ends against them after taking a lead, because you know that they are going to come back with a ton of pressure.鈥�
Bottcher is now gearing up to face Sweden鈥檚 Niklas Edin in a quarter-final contest.
The other playoff matchup will see American John Shuster take on John Morris of Vernon, B.C.
The final three berths in the women鈥檚 quarter-finals will be decided at 8 a.m. Saturday morning.
Those 鈥楥鈥� event finals will see Ottawa鈥檚 Rachel Homan facing Mississauga鈥檚 Jacqueline Harrison, Sudbury鈥檚 Tracy Fleury squaring off with Winnipeg鈥檚 Michelle Englot and an all-Alberta matchup between Lethbridge鈥檚 Casey Scheidegger and Edmonton鈥檚 Kelsey Rocque.
