Bottcher, De Cruz advance to A final at Canadian Open with fifth draw wins

NORTH BATTLEFORD, Sask. – Edmonton’s Brendan Bottcher downed Regina’s Matt Dunstone 6-3 on Wednesday night in the fifth draw of the Canadian Open.

Bottcher had a deuce in the sixth end and a single in the eighth to advance to the A event finals where he will play Switzerland’s Peter De Cruz.

De Cruz had two points in the seventh end and a single in the eighth to top Calgary’s Kevin Koe 6-4.

In the Canadian Open teams must win three games before they lose three in order to advance to the playoff round. All 16 teams start in the A brackets. Winners stay in A while losers drop to the B brackets.

Scotland’s Bruce Mouat will meet Glenn Howard of Penetanguishe, Ont., in the other A final on Thursday after they won their respective semifinals in Draw 4.

Brad Jacobs of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., stayed alive in the B bracket with a 7-3 win over Saskatoon’s Rylan Kleiter in the fifth draw.

The winners in B remain in that bracket while the losers fall to the C brackets. The C brackets are the last chance for teams to qualify for the playoffs and once a team loses in the C brackets they are eliminated from the tournament.

On the women’s side, Scotland’s Eve Muirhead beat Casey Scheidegger of Lethbridge, Alta., 6-2 to advance to the A final where she will meet Japan’s Satsuki Fujisawa.

Fujisawa moved on thanks to a 9-3 win over Winnipeg’s Jennifer Jones.