Brad Gushue's 24-game winning streak snapped at Players' Championship

Brad Gushue's winning streak ended at 24 games after Manitoba's Mike McEwen beat the world champion from St. John's, N.L., 6-4 on Thursday at the Players' Championship in Toronto, a stop on the Grand Slam of Curling circuit.

Gushue and McEwen have 3-1 records and are tied for first in Pool A.

Meanwhile, Casey Scheidegger of Lethbridge, Alta., broke a tie game, stealing three consecutive ends for a 7-2 victory over Ottawa's Rachel Homan in Draw 9 of round-robin play 

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Both Scheidegger and Homan hold 2-1 records and are tied for second in Pool A behind Switzerland's Silvana Tirinzoni (4-0), who became the first to four wins with a 7-3 victory over Allison Flaxey (1-3) of Caledon, Ont.

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John Morris of Vernon, B.C., earned his first win of the tournament after downing Edmonton's Brendan Bottcher 8-5. Morris and Bottcher are both at 1-3 in Pool A and still need victories in their final round-robin games Friday to stay in playoff contention.

Morris is also chasing down Steve Laycock for the final direct Olympic Trials spot based on points.

Winnipeg's Reid Carruthers climbed to a 2-2 record after a 9-1 rout of Calgary's Kevin Koe (2-2).