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Muyres out, Dunstone drops close match with Koe in late Thursday draw

Jan 10, 2019 | 9:08 PM

Just not sharp enough is how Saskatoon’s Kirk Muyres described his play over the last three days.

Though remaining competitive throughout the match, the team fell 6-3 to Winnipeg’s Jason Gunnlaugson in seven ends. The loss in the late draw Thursday saw his rink the first knocked out of the 2019 Meridian Canadian Open.

The team had previous losses at the hands of John Epping in Tuesday’s opening draw, falling 8-1, and dropped an 8-3 bout to Scott McDonald in six ends the following night.

“It just wasn’t our weekend,” he said. “I didn’t play good enough to win … You know what you need to do when you come here and if you don’t do it you are not going to win.

Though admitting it is disappointing to have an opportunity to play close to home and not perform, the rink will take a few days to regroup and ready for provincials, knowing a strong February showing could end with a trip to the Tim Hortons Brier.

Only playing together for four months, and holding the role of skip for the same period, Muyres said remaining consistent going forward will be paramount if he wants to compete at the top level.

“It is just a matter of staying patient,” he said.

Calgary’s Kevin Koe was up against Regina’s Matt Dunstone, who entered play with a 1-1 record. Though falling 6-2, Dunstone’s rink remained neck and neck with Koe all night, stretching the match to the final rock.

“We had opportunities and we want to keep having those opportunities and I was going to capitalize on them today,” he said. “But, you know, we had them right where we wanted them in that game.”

Dunstone said he was finally executing shots on the backend to get the rink out of trouble when needed, which he said was lacking earlier in the week.

Going forward, Dunstone’s gameplan is simple: “It is just about stringing together shots.”

Dunstone’s rink holds a 1-2 record, after falling 5-3 to Brendan Bottcher’s Edmonton rink last night in seven ends following a narrow 5-4 victory over Braden Calvert earlier in the day.

Elsewhere on the night, John Epping fell to Sweden’s Niklas Edin 8-4 in seven ends. The win edged Edin to a 2-1 record, while the loss pushes Epping to 1-2, with the rink’s sole victory coming against Muyres on the opening night of the tournament.

Brad Jacobs edged a tight 7-6 win over Braden Calvert, and the lone female matchup saw Edmonton’s Laura Walker step away with a 4-3 win over Tracy Fleury.

 

tyler.marr@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @JournoMarr