Cotter makes shot to win Elite 10
Morris rink captures Grand Slam of Curling event in Port Hawkesbury
Jim Cotter chipped out Brad Jacobs’s counter to lead the John Morris rink to win the Elite 10 championship on Sunday at the Grand Slam of Curling event with a 1-up victory.
Morris has won 11 titles in the curling series, but it’s his first with the Vernon, B.C., rink of Cotter, second Tyrel Griffith and lead Rick Sawatsky.
Cotter, Griffith and Sawatsky were runners-up twice in the series and captured the inaugural
Tour Challenge Tier 2 title in 2015.
Morris finished with a 5-1 record at the event and earned $26,000 and a berth at the season-ending Champions Cup.
Jacobs, from Sault Ste. Marie,
Ont., will also be at the Champions Cup having won his hometown National earlier this season.
Morris downed Winnipeg’s Reid Carruthers 4-up in the semifinals on Saturday for his place in the title draw, while Jacobs secured his spot in the final by beating Calgary’s Kevin Koe 3-up.
Jacobs and Morris got to bypass the quarter-finals right to the semis after finishing the round-robin as the top two seeds.
Brier champion Brad Gushue of St. John’s, N.L., who entered the event as the defending Elite 10 champion, failed to make it out of round-robin play.
The next Grand Slam of Curling event is the Players’ Championship starting April 11 in Toronto.