Alberta's Brendan Bottcher moved to 2-0 at the Canadian men's curling championship with an 8-3 win over Yukon's Thomas Scoffin in Sunday's morning draw. Bottcher calls out to the sweepers while playing Yukon during the Brier, in Regina, on Sunday, March 3, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
REGINA – Saskatchewan’s Mike McEwen won a third straight game to start the Canadian men’s curling championship with a 6-5 win over Alberta’s Kevin Koe on Sunday.
Defending champion Brad Gushue and Jamie Koe of Northwest Territories both improved to 2-1 and Alberta’s Aaron Sluchinski to 2-0 with Pool B victories.
Gushue beat Quebec’s Julien Tremblay 9-7, Jamie Koe defeated Nova Scotia’s Matthew Manuel 8-7 in an extra end and Sluchinski fought back from an early deficit to down Nunavut’s Shane Latimer 12-10.
Kevin Koe and Tremblay both dropped to 1-2, Nunavut to 0-2 and Manuel to 0-3.
After Sunday morning’s Pool A games, Alberta’s Brendan Bottcher, Manitoba’s Reid Carruthers and Northern Ontario’s Trevor Bonot were tied at 2-0.
Carruthers needed a measurement of stones in an extra end to get the 7-6 win over Ontario’s Scott Howard (1-1).
Manitoba’s Matt Dunstone rebounded from an opening-day loss with an 8-5 defeat of B.C.’s Catlin Schneider (0-2).
Bonot edged Newfoundland and Labrador’s Andrew Symonds 7-6 and Bottcher defeated Yukon’s Thomas Scoffin 8-3.
Symonds fell to 0-2 and Scoffin was 0-1.
The Montana’s Brier winner March 10 represents Canada at the world championship March 30 to April 7 in Schaffhausen, Switzerland and returns to the 2025 Brier in Kelowna, B.C., as defending champion.
The victor also earns a berth in next year’s Olympic trials pending a top-six result at the world championship.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 3, 2024.
