Substitute John Morris leads John Shuster rink past Brad Jacobs at Champions Cup

SASKATOON – Spare John Morris skipped John Shuster’s rink to a 7-6 extra-end victory over Brad Jacobs in Wednesday night’s draw at the Champions Cup.

With Shuster away at the world mixed doubles championship, tapped Morris to fill in for the Grand Slam of Curling season finale.

Shuster’s rink moved up to a 2-0 round-robin record for a share of the lead in the men’s division while Jacobs split their day at 1-1.

Also in the fifth round-robin draw, Brad Gushue of St. John’s, N.L., moved up to a 2-0 record following a 7-5 win over Switzerland’s Yannick Schwaller (0-2).

Calgary’s Kevin Koe opened with a 9-5 victory over Saskatoon’s Kirk Muyres (0-2).

In women’s play, Winnipeg’s Alli Flaxey, with Laura Walker subbing at skip, took down Robyn Silvernagle of North Battleford, Sask., 11-4 and Sweden’s Anna Hasselborg, with Eve Muirhead at skip, defeated Winnipeg’s Jennifer Jones 7-5.

The Hasselborg rink (2-0) climbed into a three-way tie for first with Ottawa’s Rachel Homan and Kerri Einarson of Gimli, Man. Flaxey, Jones and Silvernagle all have identical 1-1 records.