Saskatchewan’s Knapp falls to Nova Scotia at Tim Hortons Brier

Having the hammer in the 10th end didn’t help Saskatchewan’s Kelly Knapp on Tuesday at the Tim Hortons Brier.

Trailing Nova Scotia’s Matt Manuel by one and facing three Nova Scotia counters, Knapp was light with his last-rock draw and gave up a steal of one to lose 9-7 at the Canadian men’s curling championship in London, Ont.

The defeat dropped Knapp’s round-robin record to 2-3. While the Regina Highland rink isn’t officially eliminated from playoff contention, it’s on the brink with three round-robin games remaining.

In Tuesday’s game, Knapp opened the scoring with a deuce in the first end with the hammer. Manuel responded with one in the second, but Knapp scored two in the third.

After the teams traded deuces in the fourth and fifth ends, Manuel scored two in the sixth and stole one in the seventh to tie the score 6-6.

The Saskatchewan champions reclaimed the lead with a single in the eighth end, but Nova Scotia put up a deuce in the ninth to take an 8-7 lead and then stole one in the pivotal 10th end.

Knapp is to play Northern Ontario’s Tanner Horgan on Wednesday morning.