LAYCOCK SCORES CLOSE WIN AT CHAMPIONS CUP

CALGARY Saskatoon’s Steve Laycock edged past Scotland’s Tom Brewster 5-4 in Wednesday’s early draw at the Champions Cup curling competition.

Laycock scored a single in the eighth end for the victory at the WinSport Arena. Peter de Cruz of Switzerland dumped Scotland’s Grant Hardie 8-1 in the other early men’s game. In women’s play, Sweden’s Anna Hasselborg topped American Jamie Sinclair 6-4, Switzerland’s Alina Paetz beat Scotland’s Eve Muirhead 7-2 and Silvana Tirinzoni of Switzerland knocked off China’s Bingyu Wang 8-1. Three more draws were scheduled for later Wednesday.

The playoffs at the grand slam event begin Saturday and the finals are scheduled for Sunday.