REGINA — Canada’s Brendan Bottcher scored four points in the eighth end to defeat Korey Dropkin’s American team 8-4 Wednesday morning in the fourth draw of the KIOTI Tractor Champions Cup.
Bottcher and his Calgary-based crew climbed to a 2-0 round-robin record in the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling season finale.
Team Dropkin dropped to 0-2 as they’re playing in this event without their skip. Dropkin just earned gold in the world mixed doubles championship last week.
Andrew Stopera, who normally skips and throws third stones, has moved up to fourth. Thomas Howell is playing third, Mark Fenner remains at second and spare Ben Richardson is subbing at lead.
Elsewhere, Canada’s Reid Carruthers took two in the seventh and stole one in the eighth to complete a 5-3 comeback victory over Scotland’s Ross Whyte. Both teams now hold 1-1 records.
In women’s play, Canada’s Jennifer Jones climbed to a 2-0 record with a 5-2 win over Switzerland’s Silvana Tirinzoni (1-1).
Japan’s Satsuki Fujisawa also improved to 2-0 with a 5-2 victory against Canada’s Kaitlyn Lawes (0-2).
Laura Walker and Jolene Campbell are subbing at third and second, respectively, on Team Lawes with third Selena Njegovan on maternity leave and Jocelyn Peterman expecting a baby.
UP NEXT
Round-robin action continues at the Co-operators Centre with Draw 5 at 12 p.m. local time (2 p.m. ET).
Broadcast coverage begins Thursday at 2 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. PT on Sportsnet and Sportsnet NOW.
NOTES
The KIOTI Tractor Champions Cup is the sixth and final event of the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling season featuring 12 men’s teams and 12 women’s teams who have won a top tour title to qualify. … Both divisions are split into two pools of six teams for round-robin play. The best six teams overall qualify for Saturday’s quarterfinals with the top two receiving byes to the semifinals. … The finals are scheduled for Sunday.
