BOTTCHER CLAIMS 2021 BRIER, DUNSTONE “NOTHING TO HANG OUR HEADS ABOUT”
CALGARY – Brendan Bottcher won curling’s version of the Battle of Alberta on Sunday night at the Canadian men’s curling championship.
The Alberta skip defeated Wild Card Two’s Kevin Koe 4-2 to win his first Tim Hortons Brier title.
Bottcher sat three in the 10th end and Koe conceded when he didn’t have any options to score two for the tie.
Bottcher made it to the last three Brier finals but settled for silver each time. Koe was trying to win a record fifth Brier title as a skip.
The teams blanked five of the first six ends, with Alberta forcing Wild Card Two to a single in the third.
The game finally opened up in the seventh end as Koe flashed a stone after it picked. He missed a double-takeout to set up Bottcher for a draw for three.
Bottcher kept the pressure on by forcing Koe to make a tough double-takeout against five to salvage a single. In the ninth, Bottcher missed a double for two and settled for one point.
Down two with hammer, Koe, B.J. Neufeld, John Morris and Ben Hebert couldn’t build the end for the necessary deuce to force an extra.
Bottcher and teammates Darren Moulding, Brad Thiessen and Karrick Martin enjoyed a celebratory team hug by the side of the sheet in the spectator-free Markin MacPhail Centre.
SEMIFINAL RECAP
Alberta’s Brendan Bottcher hit a game-winning angle raise for a 6-5 win over Saskatchewan’s Matt Dunstone in Sunday’s semifinal at the Canadian men’s curling championship.
Bottcher removed the Saskatchewan stone from the button with his final throw and stuck around to score two points for the victory.
“Obviously it was a super-difficult shot,” Bottcher said. “But those are the moments we’re playing for, for those kind of shots. It’s really going to take that degree of difficulty, those kind of shots, to win this thing.
“I hope we can carry that forward and keep the momentum going this evening.”
Bottcher advanced to Sunday night’s final against Wild Card Two’s Kevin Koe at the Markin MacPhail Centre.
Bottcher has reached the last three Tim Hortons Brier finals but has settled for silver each time. Dunstone was hoping to reach his first career Brier final after winning bronze last year.
“There’s nothing to hang our heads about,” Dunstone said. “It was a world-class game. They played awesome and we played awesome.
“The curling gods were wearing a blue sweater today. That’s all there is to it. It totally stinks but this isn’t the end of us.”
The last Saskatchewan team to win the Brier was skipped by Rick Folk in 1980.
Koe has a chance to become the first skip to win five career Brier titles. He’s currently tied with Ernie Richardson, Randy Ferbey and Kevin Martin with four.
Both teams played a tentative style at the start of the semifinal. Singles dominated the scoresheet with Bottcher picking up a steal in the eighth end after Dunstone rolled out on a hit to give Alberta a 4-3 lead.
Dunstone rebounded with the first deuce of the game before Bottcher answered with the winning pair.
Koe’s Alberta-based team finished first in the championship pool with a 10-2 record. Dunstone and Bottcher were next at 9-3.
(Canadian Press)
