ESTEVAN - The Kelly Knapp rink is the first team to qualify for the playoffs at the SaskTel Tankard men’s provincial curling championship.
Knapp defeated defending provincial champion Colton Flasch 9-4 in nine ends in the A event final Friday afternoon at Affinity Place in Estevan. The game was tied 2-2 after three ends, but then Knapp scored three in the fourth end and stole two in the fifth to lead 7-2 through five. Flasch scored one in six and stole one in seven to pull within three, but Knapp responded with a score of one in the eighth and a steal of one in the ninth.
Knapp’s next game will be Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. in the battle between the A event and B event winners. His opponent has yet to be determined.
Flasch has dropped down to the B event.
Two other games were played in Friday afternoon's draw. Jason Jacobson scored five in the ninth end to defeat Rylan Kleiter 8-3 in nine ends in a B event game, while Dallan Muyres defeated Daymond Bernath 9-4 in the first C event game of provincials.
In the Friday morning draw, Steve Laycock edged Dustin Kalthoff 5-4, and Kody Hartung doubled up Michael Carss 8-4 in nine ends.
The Friday night draw saw Laycock defeat Hartung 8-2 in seven ends and Jacobson knock off Flasch 9-5 in nine ends in the B event. In the C competition, Logan Ede rallied from an early 4-0 deficit to beat Michael Carss 9-7, and Josh Heidt beat Kalthoff 7-5.
Four games will be played in the Saturday morning draw, starting at 10 a.m. The B final will pit Laycock and Jacobson. The winner of that game will advance to play Knapp in the battle of the top two playoff seeds Saturday at 7 p.m.
There will also be three games in the C event Saturday morning. Kleiter will play Hartung, Muyres will face Flasch and Ede will play Heidt. The winners of the C event games, along with the B-final loser, will advance to the C finals Saturday at 3 p.m.
The two teams that emerge from the C event will meet Saturday night at 7:30 p.m.
