Pat Simmons has knocked off the No. 3 and No. 2 seeds in the men's competition at the Canadian Olympic curling pre-trials. He'll need to play giant-killer one more time to secure the first available spot for next month's Olympic trials in Edmonton.
One night after defeating second seed Wayne Middaugh, 10th-ranked Simmons upset No. 3 and defending Olympic champion Brad Gushue 12-7 in Draw 8 action Wednesday night in Prince George, B.C., and moved into the final of the "A" bracket, where he'll face top seed Jeff Stoughton.
Leading 8-7 after seven ends, Simmons scored four in the eighth to give his Davidson, Sask., foursome the victory.
Gushue led early after scoring four in the second end, but Simmons rebounded to score four in the fifth before the decisive eighth.
"Patience is something we've been working on, and it's one of the big improvements in our team," Simmons said.
"We've won a lot of games this year by going about our business, communicating and chipping away at the opposition. In this one, we had a few good breaks and they had a few unfortunate ones, including a couple of picks that hurt.
"Obviously, we'll take those when we can get them. Especially against a team like that. We've had lots of problems with them in the past."
Simmons will face Stoughton in the "A" bracket final Thursday, with the winner advancing directly into the Roar of the Rings qualifying tournament.
Stoughton advanced with a 4-2 win over fellow Winnipeg native Mike McEwen earlier Wednesday.
Gushue's St. John's rink moved in to the second round of the "B" bracket of the triple-elimination tournament. He'll face Edmonton's Ted Appelman on Thursday. McEwen will face Jean-Michel Ménard of St-Romuald, Que.
In women's action, former world champion Kelly Scott of Kelowna, B.C., and Crystal Webster of Calgary have advanced to the women's "A" final with wins in Draw 7.
Scott defeated Saskatoon's Sherry Anderson 9-8 after scoring two in the 10th end. Webster scored two in the ninth and stole another in the 10th to defeat Ottawa's Rachel Homan 8-6.
Scott and Webster meet in the "A" bracket final on Thursday, with the winner advancing to the Olympic qualifying tournament next month in Edmonton.
The loser will drop down to the "B" bracket and will still have a chance to grab one of the three remaining qualifying spots.
Meanwhile, the women's competition saw its first two eliminations on Wednesday.
No. 2 Sherry Middaugh of Coldwater, Ont., stayed alive after losing her first two games, downing No. 4 Michelle Englot of Regina 10-4 in the first round of the "C" bracket.
Englot lost all of her first three matches and was eliminated.
Fifth seed Heather Rankin of Calgary stayed alive with a 7-3 victory over No. 11 Eve Belisle of Montreal.
Middaugh and Rankin will meet in the second round of the "C" bracket on Friday, with the winner moving within a game of a berth at the Olympic trails and the loser going home.
