Gushue, Mouat remain red-hot in Oakville sliding into Masters semifinals
OAKVILLE, Ont. — The winning streaks in Oakville continue for Team Brad Gushue of St. John’s, N.L., and Scotland’s Team Bruce Mouat.
Gushue and Mouat qualified for the Masters men’s quarterfinals with 3-0 records through the A side of the triple knockout stage, and both advanced to the final four Saturday at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex.
Team Gushue swept past Japan’s Team Yuta Matsumura 6-2 and Mouat doubled up on compatriots Team Ross Whyte 4-2.
Mouat and Gushue are also undefeated in town on the season. Team Mouat went 6-0 through the Stu Sells Oakville Tankard last month and Team Gushue also won six straight with zero losses to capture the Stu Sells Toronto Tankard during Thanksgiving weekend with both events taking place at the Oakville Curling Club.
Team Mouat also claimed the Stu Sells Oakville Tankard and Oakville Fall Classic in 2017 and hold an incredible 28-1 record in town since forming that season.
Masters: Live Scores and Standings | Draw Schedule | Broadcast Schedule
Gushue will go up against Team Brad Jacobs after the Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., crew clipped Calgary’s Team Kevin Koe 5-4 in an extra end to set up another “Battle of the Brads” in the semifinals.
Jacobs has won seven Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling men’s titles in his career and is just missing the Masters from completing the list. The only skip who has won all six different events in the series is the same man who is now looking to put a halt to his run.
Meanwhile, Mouat will meet Edmonton’s Team Brendan Bottcher, who eliminated Sweden’s Team Niklas Edin 5-3.
It’ll be a rematch from the A finals where Mouat topped Bottcher 7-4 Thursday to qualify for the playoffs.
Mouat is seeking a third consecutive GSOC men’s title after claiming the Champions Cup and Princess Auto Players’ Championship back-to-back in the Calgary bubble last season.
UP NEXT
The women’s quarterfinals feature Switzerland’s Team Silvana Tirinzoni (3-0) vs. Winnipeg’s Team Jennifer Jones (3-2), Ottawa’s Team Rachel Homan (3-0) vs. Team Alina Kovaleva (3-2) from Russia, Team Tabitha Peterson of the United States vs. Team Eun-Jung Kim of South Korea (both 3-1) and Team Tracy Fleury (3-1) of East St. Paul vs. Team Kerri Einarson (3-2) of Gimli in an all-Manitoba matchup.
Watch around-the-rings coverage starting at 4 p.m. ET on Sportsnet, Sportsnet ONE, Sportsnet NOW (Canada) and Yare (international).
The semifinals are in the evening with both finals set for Sunday.
NO TICK ZONE
Teams cannot tick guards off of the centre line while the five-rock, free guard zone is in effect during the eighth and extra ends only.
NOTES
The Masters is the first of five events on the 2021-22 Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling schedule and features 16 of the top men’s teams and 16 of the top women’s teams from around the world. … A combined $300,000 prize purse is up for grabs with the winning teams earning $33,000 plus berths into the season-ending KIOTI Tractor Champions Cup. … Tickets are available at masters.goigniter.com.
