Dunstone upends McEwen for final playoff berth at Co-op Canadian Open
NISKU, Alta. — Winnipeg’s Team Matt Dunstone grabbed the last spot in the Co-op Canadian Open men’s quarterfinals.
Dunstone defeated Saskatoon’s Team Mike McEwen 7-5 during Saturday morning’s tiebreaker draw at the Silent Ice Center to punch the final playoff ticket.
Dunstone, who went 2-2 through the round-robin stage, will play No. 1 seed Team Bruce Mouat of Scotland. It’s a rematch from Friday afternoon where Mouat beat Dunstone 8-5.
Mouat captured his seventh Grand Slam of Curling title last month at the HearingLife Tour Challenge and continues to cruise in the series with an unblemished 4-0 record this week.
The other three men’s quarterfinal games also happen to be rematches.
Team Brad Gushue (4-0) of St. John’s, N.L., goes up against Sweden’s Team Niklas Edin (3-1), Calgary’s Team Brad Jacobs (3-1) faces Switzerland’s Team Yannick Schwaller (3-1) and Italy’s Team Joël Retornaz (3-1) takes on Scotland’s Team Ross Whyte (3-1).
Gushue beat Edin 5-4 Thursday night with Schwaller defeating Jacobs 8-3 and Retornaz topping Whyte 7-3 Friday.
On the women’s side, Team Kerri Einarson of Gimli, Man., Winnipeg’s Team Chelsea Carey and Team Silvana Tirinzoni from Switzerland advanced out of the tiebreakers.
Einarson eliminated Edmonton’s Team Selena Sturmay 8-6, Carey clipped Winnipeg’s Team Kaitlyn Lawes 4-3 and Tirinzoni ousted Japan’s Team Sayaka Yoshimura 6-2.
Einarson will face Ottawa’s Team Rachel Homan (4-0), Tirinzoni takes on Italy’s Team Stefania Constantini (3-1) and Carey clashes with South Korea’s Team Eun-jung Kim (3-1).
Japan’s Team Satsuki Fujisawa (3-1) plays South Korea’s Team Seung-Youn Ha (3-1) in the other women’s quarterfinal game.
The women’s quarterfinals kick off the playoffs at 2 p.m. ET / noon MT followed by the men’s quarterfinals at 6 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. MT. Both semifinals are scheduled for 10 p.m. ET / 8 p.m. MT.
Watch Saturday’s playoff coverage live on Sportsnet One and Sportsnet+.
Online streaming for every game is available in free preview at thegrandslamofcurling.com.
