Peter De Cruz (Geneva, Switzerland) wins the Meridian Canadian Open, defeating Niklas Edin (Karlstad, SWE) 5-3 at the Encana Centre in Camrose, Alberta, Canada. De Cruz as skip throwing second stones with Benoit Schwarz throwing the last stones along with Claudio Paetz at third and Valentin Tanner at lead take home the $30,000CDN first place cheque along with 82.727 world ranking points, while Edin receives $18,000CDN and 65.000 world ranking points for their second place finish. After a first end blank, Edin stole 1 in the second end to take an early lead, then forced De Cruz to a single in the third end. Edin scored 2 in the fourth end to take a 3-1 lead. After a blank end, De Cruz scored a single the sixth end, added a steal to tie the game in the seventh end and then added another steal of 2 in the eighth end to come away with the 5-3 win. In the semifinals, De Cruz defeated Brad Jacobs (Sault Ste Marie, Ontario) 5-2 and Edin defeated Kevin Koe (Calgary, Alberta) 6-5 in an extra end. Koe and Jacobs earned $12,000CDN and 50.227 ranking points for their semifinal finishes. In the quarterfinals, De Cruz defeated Team Bottcher skipped by Steve Laycock (Edmonton, Alberta) 7-6, Edin defeated Mike McEwen (Winnipeg, Manitoba) 3-2 in an extra end, while Jacobs defeated Reid Carruthers (Winnipeg, Manitoba) 7-3 and Koe defeated Jason Gunnlaugson (Winnipeg, Manitoba) 6-3. Carruthers, Bottcher, McEwen and Gunnlaugson earned $8,000CDN along with 35.454 ranking points for their quarterfinal finishes. De Cruz went 3-1 in the 16 team triple knockout qualifying round. In their opening game, De Cruz defeated Thomas Ulsrud (Oslo, Norway) 6-3, and won against Brad Gushue (St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador) 5-3 to advance to the A-Qualifier. De Cruz lost 6-3 to Jacobs, then responded with a 8-3 win over Carruthers in the B-Qualifier to advance to the playoff round. |