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Koe begins drive for five and history at Kingston Brier – TSN

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KINGSTON, Ont. – Kevin Koe isn’t thinking about what a victory at the Tim Hortons Brier this week means to the curling history books. He just wants to win – again.

The 45-year-old will skip Team Canada after running the table in Brandon, Man., last year to capture his fourth career Canadian championship. If he defends the title at Leon’s Centre, Koe will be become the first skip in history to win five Brier Tankards. Teammate Ben Hebert would join him at five championships, the first lead and third curler overall to accomplish the feat. 

Only Randy Ferbey, who won four times as a skip and twice as third, has more career national titles with six. Ferbey, Kevin Martin, Ernie Richardson and Koe are the only skips with four. 

Koe says he might think about making history off the ice, but those thoughts don’t cross his mind in the slightest when it’s game time. 

“Not at all. It’s so hard to win. It’s pretty neat to look back. It wasn’t that long ago when I won my first and to have a chance to win five is cool,” Koe told reporters after practice on Friday. “It will be something more when you’re done curling you’ll look back on and say ‘Wow. That was pretty good.’ But that’s definitely not the motivation this week. The motivation is just to win this year.”

Koe’s first championship came in his first appearance at nationals in 2010, beating curling legend Glenn Howard with a draw to the button in a dramatic extra-end final. He won again in 2014, and then for a third time in 2016 before his perfect run last year.

A win in Kingston would be five Tankards in eight career appearances. How’s that ratio Kevin?

“That’s a pretty good ratio I’d say. Hopefully it happens,” Koe joked. 

Koe’s Calgary rink of third B.J. Neufeld, second Colton Flasch and lead Hebert are 31-21 on the season and haven’t won an event on the World Curling Tour, getting as far as the Canada Cup final where they lost in Ontario’s John Epping.

Still, Koe likes how his team is feeling heading into this year’s national championship.

“I think we’re looking great. I love the way we’re throwing it,” he said. “Season has been a little bit up and down, but there have been circumstances that have probably attributed to that. We’re maybe a bit of an underdog. Hopefully we can play okay and try to stay in the hunt.”

This will be the second time Koe represents Canada at the Brier after Curling Canada implemented the format to mirror the Scotties Tournament of Hearts. Koe lost to Brad Gushue’s St. John’s, Nfld., rink in the 2017 final in his first time wearing the red and white.

The Yellowknife native says he doesn’t feel any added pressure as the reigning champ.

“It’s not like this is our first time. Maybe when you’re at the worlds or something. It’s a little different feel, this Team Canada versus when you’re the only team from Canada,” said Koe. “We put a lot of pressure on ourselves to perform up to standard and this week will be no different, regardless of whether it’s Alberta or Team Canada.”

The 2020 Brier field is stacked once again with nearly half the 16-team field having a decent shot at standing atop the podium at week’s end, including Northern Ontario’s Brad Jacobs, winner of three Grand Slams this season, two-time champ Gushue, Ontario’s Epping and back-to-back finalist Brendan Bottcher of Alberta.

There are also dark horses like Saskatchewan’s Matt Dunstone, British Columbia’s Steve Laycock and the winner of the Wild Card game between Mike McEwen and Glenn Howard. 

“There’s no team that you think should be here that’s not. It’s a great challenge if you happen to win this. I’m looking forward to it,” said Koe.

Canada kicks off their 2020 Brier against Ontario Saturday afternoon. You can watch all the action starting at 2 p.m. ET on TSN 1/5 and streaming on TSN.ca, the TSN App and TSN Direct. 

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David Lipsky shoots 65 to take 1st-round lead at Silverado in FedEx Cup Fall opener

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NAPA, Calif. (AP) — David Lipsky shot a 7-under 65 on Thursday at Silverado Country Club to take a one-stroke lead after the first round of the Procore Championship.

Winless in 104 events since joining the PGA Tour in 2022, Lipsky went out with the early groups and had eight birdies with one bogey to kick off the FedEx Cup Fall series at the picturesque course in the heart of Napa Valley wine country.

After missing the cut in his three previous tournaments, Lipsky flew from Las Vegas to Arizona to reunite with his college coach at Northwestern to get his focus back. He also spent time playing with some of the Northwestern players, which helped him relax.

“Just being around those guys and seeing how carefree they are, not knowing what’s coming for them yet, it’s sort of nice to see that,” Lipsky said. “I was almost energized by their youthfulness.”

Patton Kizzire and Mark Hubbard were a stroke back. Kizzire started on the back nine and made a late run with three consecutive birdies to move into a tie for first. A bogey on No. 8 dropped him back.

“There was a lot of good stuff out there today,” Kizzire said. “I stayed patient and just went through my routines and played well, one shot at a time. I’ve really bee working hard on my mental game and I think that allowed me to rinse and repeat and reset and keep playing.”

Mark Hubbard was at 67. He had nine birdies but fell off the pace with a bogey and triple bogey on back-to-back holes.

Kevin Dougherty also was in the group at 67. He had two eagles and ended his afternoon by holing out from 41 yards on the 383-yard, par-4 18th.

Defending champion Sahith Theegala had to scramble for much of his round of 69.

Wyndham Clark, who won the U.S. Open in 2023 and the AT&T at Pebble Beach in February, had a 70.

Max Homa shot 71. The two-time tournament champion and a captain’s pick for the President’s Cup in two weeks had two birdies and overcame a bogey on the par-4 first.

Stewart Cink, the 2020 winner, also opened with a 71. He won The Ally Challenge last month for his first PGA Tour Champions title.

Three players from the Presidents Cup International team had mix results. Min Woo Lee shot 68, Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., 69 and Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., 73. International team captain Mike Weir of Brights Grove, Ont., also had a 69.

Ben Silverman of Thornhill, Ont., had a 68, Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., and Roger Sloan of Merritt, B.C., shot 70 and Adam Svensson of Surrey, B.C., had a 71.

Lipsky was a little shaky off the tee for much of the afternoon but made up for it with steady iron play that left him in great shape on the greens. He had one-putts on 11 holes and was in position for a bigger day but left five putts short.

Lipsky’s only real problem came on the par-4 ninth when his approach sailed into a bunker just shy of the green. He bounced back nicely with five birdies on his back nine. After missing a 19-foot putt for birdie on No. 17, Lipsky ended his day with a 12-foot par putt.

That was a big change from last year when Lipsky tied for 30th at Silverado when he drove the ball well but had uneven success on the greens.

“Sometimes you have to realize golf can be fun, and I think I sort of forgot that along the way as I’m grinding it out,” Lipsky said. “You’ve got to put things in perspective, take a step back. Sort of did that and it seems like it’s working out.”

Laird stayed close after beginning his day with a bogey on the par-4 10th. The Scot got out of the sand nicely but pushed his par putt past the hole.

Homa continued to have issues off the tee and missed birdie putts on his final four holes.

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AP golf:

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Canada’s Marina Stakusic advances to quarterfinals at Guadalajara Open

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GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic is moving on to the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open.

The Mississauga, Ont., native defeated the tournament top seed, Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) in the round of 16 on Thursday.

Stakusic faced a 0-4 deficit in the third and final set before marching back into the match.

The 19-year-old won five of the next six games to even it up before exchanging games to force a tiebreaker, where Stakusic took complete control to win the match.

Stakusic had five aces with 17 double faults in the three-hour, four-minute match.

However, she converted eight of her 18 break-point opportunities.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.

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France investigating disappearances of 2 Congolese Paralympic athletes

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PARIS (AP) — French judicial authorities are investigating the disappearance of two Paralympic athletes from Congo who recently competed in the Paris Games, the prosecutor’s office in the Paris suburb of Bobigny confirmed on Thursday.

Prosecutors opened the investigation on Sept. 7, after members of the athletes’ delegation warned authorities of their disappearance two days before.

Le Parisien newspaper reported that shot putter Mireille Nganga and Emmanuel Grace Mouambako, a visually impaired sprinter who was accompanied by a guide, went missing on Sept. 5, along with a third person.

The athletes’ suitcases were also gone but their passports remained with the Congolese delegation, according to an official with knowledge of the investigation, who asked to remain anonymous as they were not allowed to speak publicly about the case.

The Paralympic Committee of the Democratic Republic of Congo did not respond to requests for information from The Associated Press.

Nganga — who recorded no mark in the seated javelin and shot put competitions — and Mouambako were Congo’s flag bearers at the opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games, organizers said.

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AP Paralympics:

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