It was another steady performance for Steve Laycock and his Saskatoon-based rink on Friday morning at the North Battleford Civic Centre.
In his second straight must-win game at the Pinty鈥檚 Grand Slam of Curling鈥檚 Meridian Canadian Open, Laycock was able to pull away late from Kingston鈥檚 Greg Balsdon on his way to an 8-4 win.
鈥淲e鈥檙e starting to stack together some shots and we鈥檙e not leaving any duds out there,鈥� Team Laycock third Kirk Muyres said. 鈥淲e had that last night as well against McCormick, and we had a little bit of luck on our side against Balsdon as they gave us a real fight.
鈥淲e鈥檙e starting to get more and more consistent out there, and that鈥檚 giving us a chance to be in these games and have a chance to win right until the very end. If we can shoot around 85 percent as a team, we鈥檒l be in the mix.鈥�
Edmonton鈥檚 Brendan Bottcher ended John Epping鈥檚 chances of a second straight Canadian Open title in the morning draw, as he knocked out the Toronto based rink with an 8-3 win.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been solid in every game this week, except maybe for our loss against (John) Shuster on Wednesday,鈥� Team Bottcher third Darren Moulding said.
鈥淲hen we got the first three-ender in the second end, that kind of tipped things in our favour, and then we pretty much took control of things after we stole three points in the fourth end.鈥�
Moulding was called into the Bottcher lineup just before the tournament as the team parted ways with Moose Jaw鈥檚 Pat Simmons.
鈥淚 got a call on Dec. 23 if I could join the guys so I had about 10 days to get geared up for coming to town,鈥� Moulding said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 actually been a fairly easy process and it鈥檚 been a lot more seamless than I thought it would be. I鈥檒l be travelling with the guys to Europe in a couple of weeks, but then will see what happens from there.鈥�
After two surprising losses, Ottawa鈥檚 Rachel Homan got back on track Friday morning as she eliminated Russia鈥檚 Anna Sidorova from the event with an 8-3 victory.
Over in the 鈥楤鈥� bracket, Kelsey Rocque of Edmonton edged out China鈥檚 Bingyu Wang by a score of 4-3 and Sweden鈥檚 Anna Hasselborg earned a 7-6 victory over Casey Scheidegger of Lethbridge.
Play will resume at 11:30 a.m. and will see three playoffs berths up for grabs in the 鈥楤鈥� event bracket on the men鈥檚 side.
Edmonton鈥檚 Charley Thomas will take on American John Shuster, John Morris and his Vernon, B.C. rink will face Calgary鈥檚 Kevin Koe and Winnipeg鈥檚 Mike McEwen will square off against St. John鈥檚 Brad Gushue in a game that will be broadcast national on Sportsnet.
A playoff spot will also be available in the women鈥檚 event, as Jennifer Jones of Winnipeg will face Jacqueline Harrison of Mississauga.
Saskatoon鈥檚 Bruce Korte will be in a must-win game in the men鈥檚 鈥楥鈥� event as he鈥檒l play Winnipeg鈥檚 Reid Carruthers.
