Morning Star Staff
Vernon’s Jim Cotter is rocking in Paradise.
Cotter and his rink of third Ryan Kuhn, second Tyrel Griffith and lead Rick Sawatzky won their first pair of games at the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling Tour Challenge in Paradise, N.L.
The reigning B.C. men’s champions opened the Tier 2 division event Wednesday with a 7-2 romp over Tom Brewster of Aberdeen, Scotland.
Cotter began with a deuce, gave one back then took control of the eight-end match with three in the fourth and a steal of one in the fifth for a commanding 6-1 lead.
Back on the ice Thursday morning, Cotter scored a 7-5 decision over Colin Thomas of St. John’s.
After Thomas scored one with the hammer in the opening end, the Vernon rink scored a pair in two to take a 2-1 lead.
Thomas tied the match in three and the two teams then traded deuces before Cotter scored another two in the sixth end, and stole one in seven for a 7-4 lead.
Cotter took on Andrew Symonds of St. John’s Thursday afternoon, and concludes the round-robin today against Chad Stevens of Halifax.
The winner of the Tier 2 event will receive invitations to the following Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling event, The Masters, Oct. 27 to Nov. 1 in Truro, N.S.
