Koe Battling C-Side in Okotoks

Calgary's Kevin Koe (photo: Michael Burns, Curling Canada) is two wins away from Sunday's playoff round. Koe, with Tyler Tardi, Jacques Gauthier and Karrick Martin, suddenly find themselves on the C-side at the ATB Okotoks Classic in Okotoks, Alberta, after two losses on Friday. Koe started with a 9-5 win over Rob Johnson of Calgary, then followed up with a 7-5 win over Shinya Abe of Sapporo, Japan. The two wins advanced Koe into the A-Qualifiers, where a win would put them into the playoffs. Unfortunately, the squad came up against a hot shooting John Shuster, with the Americans winning 5-4 in an extra end. Koe's loss dropped them to the B-event of the 24-team triple knockout draw, placing them into another qualifying game with a playoff berth on the line. Saskatoon's Rylan Kleiter was the opponent, with another great last rock to shoot to win, with Kleiter drawing the button around a top four-foot stone. Koe's road through the C-event has them playing Japan's Yusuke Morozumi at 12:15 pm Mountain Time. A win would put them ahead into the C-Qualifiers against the winner of Edmonton's Johnson Tao and Jacob Libbus of Black Diamond. Two playoff spots remain, with a battle of Japanese sides, Abe playing Takumi Maeda (Kitami) on the other half of the C-event, facing the winner between Calgary's Cole Adams and Wouter Goesgens of the Netherlands. Team Morozumi stream vs. Koe: