Koe and Gushue will contest final

ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — Canada’s Kevin Koe defeated Manitoba’s Mike McEwen 7-6 on Saturday to earn a return ticket to the Tim Hortons Brier final.

McEwen missed a double runback attempt to give Koe the single point in the extra end.

The Koe win sets up a showdown today with local favourite Brad Gushue of Newfoundland and Labrador for the gold medal. Gushue advanced straight to the final with a victory over McEwen in the Page playoff 1-2 game on Friday.

Koe beat Gushue in last year’s final at Ottawa and went on to win the world championship. Gushue is looking for his first career Brier title in 14 appearances.

Koe forced an extra end in the semifinal with a clutch double takeout to score two.

Earlier, Koe defeated Northern Ontario’s Brad Jacobs 6-2 in the Page playoff 3-4 game at Mile One Centre.

Koe scored a single in the eighth end and put the game out of reach with a deuce in the ninth. He shot 89 per cent on the day while Jacobs was well back at 74 per cent.

“Just on the wrong side of the inch on a few of my shots,” Jacobs said. “We narrowly missed some good opportunities and you’ve got to take advantage of stuff like that if you want to win the Brier, not miss them. That’s how the game went for us.”

Koe started the game with hammer and scored a pair of singles. The game was delayed for 66 minutes after the third end due to a power outage.

“It had no effect on us,” Jacobs said. “We were already behind the eight ball at that point.”

When play resumed, the teams blanked another end before Koe added a single in the fifth. Jacobs got on the scoreboard with a deuce in the sixth end, but that was all the offence he could muster.

Jacobs, the reigning Olympic champion, will settle for an appearance in the bronze-medal game against McEwen today.

Jacobs admitted it would be “very difficult” to get up for the third-place game. “You come here to win the tankard,” Jacobs said.