News Tour Challenge

GRANDE PRAIRIE, Alta. — Niklas Edin and his Swedish squad are all tuned up for the HearingLife Tour Challenge playoffs.

With a playoff spot already secured, Edin kept his unblemished record intact following a 7-3 victory over Brendan Bottcher’s Canadian team during Draw 13 action Friday morning at the Coca-Cola Centre.

While Edin is riding into the playoffs at 4-0, Bottcher is heading home winless at 0-4.

Joël Retornaz and his Italian team also completed a 4-0 run through round-robin play with a 7-1 rout over Kevin Koe’s Canadian club (2-2). Retornaz scored a three-ender in the second and stole a trio of points in the sixth to ice the game early.

Koe’s fate will be determined following the conclusion of round-robin play Friday night.

Yannick Schwaller’s Swiss side advanced to the quarterfinals at 3-1 after scoring three in the seventh during a 6-2 set over Colton Flasch’s Canadian rink. Flasch has been eliminated at 1-3.

Switzerland’s Team Hösli, skipped this week by regular third Philipp Hösli, ended things on a high note with a 5-3 win over Steffan Walstad’s Norwegian crew. Both teams finished with identical 1-3 records.

TIER 2 RESULTS

• Asselin 8, Kim 2
• Dropkin 7, Sturmay 2
• Tao 8, Jacques 6
• Wiebe 5, Hartung 2

UP NEXT

Round-robin play continues with Draw 14 at 2 p.m. ET / 12 p.m. MT on Sportsnet, Sportsnet NOW (Canada) and Yare (international).

NOTES

The HearingLife Tour Challenge is the second event on the 2022-23 Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling calendar with two tiers and a total of 64 teams. Both tiers feature 16 men’s teams and 16 women’s teams. … The top eight teams overall advance to Saturday afternoon’s quarterfinals. The semifinals are set for Saturday evening with both finals on tap for Sunday.