The second annual IG Wealth Management Western Showdown concluded with a clash of curling heavyweights in Swift Current.
The five-time world champion rink of Niklas Edin defeated two-time world champion Kevin Koe 6-3 in the championship game on Monday afternoon.
The Edin rink played with only three players after the decorated skip was forced to fly home due to an injury suffered the previous weekend. They advanced to the championship event with wins over Korea’s Yeongseok Jeong, Swift Current’s Steve Laycock, and Ontario’s John Epping. They defeated Calgary’s Aaron Sluchinski 5-3 on Sunday evening in the quarter-final.
The Swedish rink took on Jeong again in the semi-final and trailed 4-2 after five ends. They scored four points in the sixth end to take their first lead. They stole singles in the seventh and eighth ends to win 8-4.
Defending Western Showdown champion Kevin Koe won three of four games to reach the championship event.
He defeated Winnipeg’s Jordan Peters 5-4 on Friday before losing 7-5 to Victoria’s Jacques Gauthier on Saturday. Koe rattled off a 10-2 win over Sluchinski and a 7-2 win over Laycock to advance.
He defeated Epping 7-3 in the quarter-final on Sunday evening. Koe scored the final three points to defeat Victoria’s Jacques Gauthier 4-2 in the semi-final in Monday morning.
The rink of Steve Laycock featured Swift Current’s Chris Haichert playing second and Cabri’s Shaun Meachem playing third. They won two of five games to bow out in the C Event. The Laycock rink won 8-3 over Winnipeg’s Braden Calvert on Friday. They were knocked from the A Event with a 6-5 loss to Edin. Layock defeated Saskatoon’s Daymond Bernath to open the B event, but were knocked out again by Koe with a 7-2 loss. Laycock was eliminated on Saturday with a 10-5 loss to Jeong.
Meachem and Chris Haichert will represent Saskatchewan at the 2022 Canadian Mixed Curling Championship in Prince Albert from Nov. 6-12 along with Teejay Haichert and Kelly Schafer.
