Gushue, Newfoundland and Labrador defeat PEI, clinch championship round spot

KINGSTON, Ont. — Newfoundland and Labrador’s Brad Gushue has clinched a spot in the championship round of the Tim Hortons Brier.

Gushue’s team scored five in the eighth end en route to an 11-8 victory over Prince Edward Island’s Bryan Cochrane (2-4) in the Wednesday morning draw at the Canadian men’s curling championship.

Gushue, the 2017 Brier champ, is now in second place in Pool B, trailing undefeated Brendan Bottcher of Alberta (6-0). Gushue’s team has one more game, against Quebec’s Alex Bedard, in the preliminary round, which wraps up Wednesday night following two more draws.

Elsewhere in Pool B, Manitoba’s Jason Gunnlaugson (4-2) defeated Nunavut’s Jake Higgs 11-5. The victory puts Manitoba in third place in its group.

Northern Ontario’s Brad Jacobs (3-3) and Nova Scotia’s Jamie Murphy (3-3) are tied for the fourth and final championship round spot in Pool B. Jacobs plays the winless Higgs in the final preliminary-round game for both teams, while Murphy meets Gunnlaugson.

The top four teams in each pool will advance to the championship round.

In Pool A action, Jamie Koe of the Northwest Territories (2-4) edged New Brunswick’s James Grattan 8-6 and B.C.’s Steve Laycock (2-4) knocked off Yukon’s Thomas Scoffin 6-3.

It was a costly loss for Grattan (3-3), who slipped into a fourth-place tie with Ontario’s John Epping in Pool A.

Saskatchewan’s Matt Dunstone and Mike McEwen’s Team Wild Card rink are tied for first at 5-1. Team Canada’s Kevin Koe is second at 4-2.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 4, 2020.

The Canadian Press