Saskatchewan eliminated from playoff contention at Tim Hortons Brier

Saskatchewan’s playoff hopes were dashed Wednesday at the Tim Hortons Brier.

Kelly Knapp lost 9-3 to Northern Ontario’s Tanner Horgan, dropping Saskatchewan’s record to 2-4 at the Canadian men’s curling championship in London, Ont.

That officially eliminated the Regina Highland foursome from playoff contention. The top three teams in each round-robin pool advance to the playoffs and Knapp — with two games left on his round-robin schedule — can’t catch Manitoba’s Matt Dunstone (6-0), Alberta’s Kevin Koe (6-0) and Horgan (5-1) in his pool.

As a result, Saskatchewan’s Brier title drought will reach 43 years. Rick Folk was the last skip from the province to win the title, doing so in 1980.

After a blank in the first end Wednesday, Horgan scored one with hammer in the second. Knapp tied it in the third, but Horgan scored four in the fourth and stole one in the fifth to make it 6-1.

Saskatchewan recorded a deuce in the sixth before Northern Ontario scored one in the seventh and stole one in each of the eighth and ninth ends to complete the scoring.

All four members of the Northern Ontario squad curled at better than 90 per cent in the contest, with the team curling at 94 per cent. Saskatchewan curled 77 per cent as a team.

The Knapp rink will complete its schedule Thursday, with a game in the morning against Jamie Koe of the Northwest Territories and a contest in the afternoon against Reid Carruthers’ Wild Card #2 entry.