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Korte becoming hometown hero; one more win to make playoffs

Jan 6, 2017 | 2:36 PM

He didn’t have the hammer but he put his opponent in a tough spot in the final end. All Bruce Korte could do was watch as Reid Carruthers held the hammer to either make a tough shot to send it to extra ends or gave Korte the win. The crowd erupted as Carruthers’ rock narrowly missed Korte’s near the button and rolled right out the back of the house to give the home province team a chance to move on. (See video below.)

Korte’s Saskatoon team was on the winning side of the only elimination game in the 11:30 draw. They were able best Reid Caruthers’ squad from Winnipeg 8-4. Now Korte will face team McEwan from Winnipeg at 6:30 tonight for the right to move on or be eliminated. McEwan lost a close one to Gushue from Newfoundland, 6-4 in the final end.

In other action John Morris and his team from B.C. advanced to the playoffs by beating team Koe from Alberta, 5-2. Koe now faces team Bottcher from Alberta at 6:30 p.m. The U.S.A team from Minnesota lead by John Shuster beat the Thomas group out of Alberta 7-4 sending them to the playoffs and Thomas to a date with Laycock out of Saskatchewan tonight at 6:30 p.m.

In the only women’s game Jennifer Jones and her team from Manitoba cruised through team Harrison out of Ontario with an 8-4 win, sending them to the playoffs. Now Harrison is in an elimination show down with the winner of the Homan vs. Meilleur game at 8 a.m. tomorrow morning.

The 3 p.m. draw is an all ladies affair starting with the previously mentioned game between Meilleur from Manitoba and the number one ranked women’s team, Homan from Ontario. Team Fleury from Ontario will face the Chinese team led by Bingyu Wang in an elimination game. Team Einarson out of Manitoba and Sheidegger from Alberta will try to keep their hopes alive in a category C game as well.

With not as much on the line, team Englot out of Manitoba and Hasselborg from across the pond in Sweden will square off for a spot in the playoffs, while the loser will be in an elimination game tomorrow morning. The winner of team Flaxey out of Alberta vs. Roque from Ontario are also in a situation where the loser doesn’t go home, but will be facing elimination.   

 

Greg Higgins is a reporter with battlefordsNOW.com. He can be reached at greg.higgins@jpbg.ca