Kevin Koe’s rink battled to come back to punch their ticket to the World Curling Tour Ashley Home Store Curling Classic in Penticton on Monday morning.
The team, from Calgary, found themselves down 3-0 in the third end when they bounced back to within one point of the lead held by the Peter De Cruz’s rink (Switzerland).
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A strong fifth and sixth end, while holding the hammer, brought Koe’s rink ahead 7-5. Both teams took a point in the seventh and eight, with Koe holding on for the 8-6 win.
De Cruz had beaten the Koe rink on Saturday in the preliminary round 6-4.
In the other semifinal, two blank ends in the fifth and sixth, gave Mike McEwen’s rink (Winnipeg) a shot to claw back in the game with Sweden’s Niklas Edin’s rink up 3-2 heading into the seventh end.
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A two point eighth end by McEwen’s rink tied the game 4-4, but Edin got a single point in the extra end to give them the 5-4 victory and a trip to the finals to face Koe’s rink.
The Edin rink, ranked No. 2 in the world, finished at the top of Pool A, with a 5-0 win-loss record through round-robin play. Koe’s rink finished second in Pool C with a 4-1 record.
The finals start at 12:15 p.m. today at the Penticton Curling Club.