Gushue cruises past Carruthers to get into win column at WFG Masters
OAKVILLE, Ont. — Team Brad Gushue of St. John’s, N.L., made quick work of Winnipeg’s Team Reid Carruthers on Wednesday morning in the WFG Masters.
Gushue brushed aside Carruthers 8-2 in only five ends during Draw 5 action at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex and improved to a 1-1 round-robin record.
Carruthers dropped to 0-2 and must win out in order to remain in contention in the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling major tournament.
It was a routine start for Gushue, who scored deuces in the first and third ends while limiting Carruthers to single points in the second and fourth.
The 14-time Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling men’s champion Gushue iced the game early with a critical score of four points in the fifth.
Elsewhere in Draw 5, Winnipeg’s Team Matt Dunstone drew level to a 1-1 record as well with a 7-4 victory over defending champions Team Bruce Mouat from Scotland.
Dunstone settled for a single to start and stole back-to-back points in the second and third ends for an early 3-0 lead.
Mouat (1-1) regrouped with a deuce in the fourth, held Dunstone to another lone point in the fifth and added another two points in the sixth to tie it 4-4.
The 2019 Masters champion Dunstone took back control counting the decisive three points in the seventh and then ran Mouat out of rocks in the eighth end.
Norway’s Team Magnus Ramsfjell moved up to a 2-0 record after trumping Team Korey Dropkin from the United States 7-1 in six ends. Already up by one, Ramsfjell scored a critical four points in the fifth end and stole one in the sixth as Dropkin (0-2) shook hands early.
Team Yannick Schwaller from Switzerland also climbed to 2-0 by scoring a single in the eighth end to win 6-5 over Toronto’s Team John Epping (1-1).
UP NEXT
The WFG Masters continues with Draw 6 at 11:30 a.m. ET. Tickets are available at the door or online at masters.goigniter.com.
Broadcast coverage begins Thursday at 11:30 a.m. ET / 8:30 a.m. PT on Sportsnet, Sportsnet NOW (Canada) and Yare (international).
NOTES
The WFG Masters is the third event of the 2022-23 Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling season featuring 16 of the top men’s teams and 16 of the top women’s teams from around the world. … Round-robin play runs through to Friday as teams play four games against opponents outside of their pools. … 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.
