Gushue ousts Edin in Co-op Canadian Open men’s quarterfinals
NISKU, Alta. — Team Brad Gushue of St. John’s, N.L., edged Sweden’s Team Niklas Edin 6-5 in an extra end during the men’s quarterfinals of the Co-op Canadian Open on Saturday at the Silent Ice Center.
Gushue was sharp down the home stretch. Holding a one-point lead but without the hammer, Gushue avoided the guard to make a tap and sit four counters that forced Edin to just a single.
The 15-time Grand Slam of Curling title winner Gushue then needed to make a straight runback to remove Edin’s shot rock with his last in the extra end and just grazed it enough for his stone in the house to count for the winning point.
Gushue, who holds an unblemished 5-0 record through the week, will play Team Yannick Schwaller of Switzerland in the evening. Schwaller scored a 6-1 victory over Calgary’s Team Brad Jacobs to advance.
Team Schwaller looked to score big in the fifth end to snap a 1-all tie after Jacobs’s last rock flew by. Luck didn’t go Schwaller’s way though as fourth Benoît Schwarz-van Berkel’s shooter hit and rolled out and their rock hanging around the edge of the 12-foot circle was determined to be outside of the rings after a measure.
Still, that gave Schwaller a key count of three and the two points he lost came back in the sixth off of a steal that led to handshakes.
Undefeated Team Bruce Mouat of Scotland meets Italy’s Team Joël Retornaz in the other semifinal matchup. Mouat doubled up on Winnipeg’s Team Matt Dunstone 6-3 and Retornaz held on for a 5-4 decision against Scotland’s Team Ross Whyte.
All four men’s quarterfinal matchups featured rematches, and repeats, from the group stage. Gushue edged Edin 5-4 during Thursday night’s draw, Schwaller defeated Jacobs 8-3 and Mouat beat Dunstone 8-5 Friday afternoon while Retornaz topped Whyte 7-3 Friday night.
Dunstone went 2-2 through the round-robin and needed a 7-5 win over Saskatoon’s Team Mike McEwen in a morning tiebreaker to qualify for the playoffs.
Ottawa’s Team Rachel Homan faces Team Seung-Youn Ha of South Korea and Switzerland’s Team Silvana Tirinzoni plays Team Eun-jung Kim of South Korea in the women’s semifinals.
Homan eliminated Team Kerri Einarson of Gimli, Man., 7-5, Ha bounced Japan’s Team Satsuki Fujisawa 6-4, Kim clipped Winnipeg’s Team Chelsea Carey 8-5 and Tirinzoni topped Italy’s Team Stefania Constantini 7-4 in the quarterfinals.
Watch the men’s and women’s semifinals live at 10 p.m. ET / 8 p.m. MT on Sportsnet One and Sportsnet+.
Online streaming for every game is available in free preview at thegrandslamofcurling.com.
