McEwen tops Ulsrud 8-2 in tiebreaker at Masters Grand Slam to make quarters

LLOYDMINSTER, Alta. — Winnipeg’s Mike McEwen scored five in the fifth end and Norway’s Thomas Ulsrud conceded an 8-2 win in a tiebreaker on Friday at the Masters Grand Slam of curling.

McEwen goes on to face Brad Jacobs of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., in Saturday’s quarter-final.

Jacobs, Kevin Koe and Brad Gushue all won in the 13th draw of the to finish round-robin play with identical 4-0 records.

Jacobs earned a 4-2 victory over Saskatoon’s Steve Laycock to lock down the No. 1 playoff seed.

Koe, from Calgary capped off the round robin with a 6-2 win in just five ends over Sweden’s Niklas Edin (3-1).

Gushue, from St. John’s, N.L., scored four in the second and took a 6-3 set over Ulsrud (2-2).

In Saturday’s other quarter-final matchups Koe clashes with Winnipeg’s Jason Gunnlaugson, Gushue takes on Switzerland’s Peter de Cruz and Edin meets Winnipeg’s Reid Carruthers.

On the women’s side, American Jamie Sinclair scored three in the seventh end to top Russia’s Anna Sidorova 8-2 for a seven-end win in their tiebreaker.

Sinclair will play Winnipeg’s Jennifer Jones in the quarters on Saturday. Casey Scheidegger of Lethbridge, Alta., takes on Sweden’s Anna Hasselborg, Winnipeg’s Kerri Einarson faces Switzerland’s Silvana Tirinzoni and Scotland’s Eve Muirhead meets Switzerland’s Alina Paetz.

The Canadian Press