Gushue, Retornaz reach Princess Auto Players’ Championship semifinals
TORONTO — Team Brad Gushue of St. John’s, N.L., and Italy’s Team Joël Retornaz have made it to the final four in the Princess Auto Players’ Championship.
Gushue upended Scotland’s Team Ross Whyte 6-5 and Retornaz ousted Sweden’s Team Niklas Edin 7-2 during the men’s quarterfinals Saturday at the Mattamy Athletic Centre.
The 14-time Grand Slam champion Gushue will play Scotland’s Team Bruce Mouat and Retornaz will meet Saskatoon’s Team Mike McEwen during the evening semifinals draw.
Watch the men’s and women’s semifinals live at 7:30 p.m. ET / 4:30 p.m. PT on Sportsnet ONE and Sportsnet+.
Gushue had to come from behind to defeat Whyte, who was 1.7 cm closer on the draw to the button start with the hammer and converted for a deuce in the first. The teams traded singles in the second and third ends and Gushue took two in the fourth to knot it up 3-3 heading into halftime.
Whyte was held to a single in the fifth as he looked to tap Gushue’s shot rock back to count two, however, it jammed to deny a multiple score. Gushue grabbed the lead for the first time in the sixth with an open tap for two to go ahead 5-4.
The reigning Scottish men’s champion Whyte was limited to another single in seven that tied it up again, but gave Gushue the hammer coming home. Although Whyte sat two counters in the house, Gushue just needed to bop the shot rock and stick around for the winning point.
Meanwhile, the scoreboard for Retornaz and Edin followed a similar path through the first three ends. The mirror match changed up in the fourth though as Retornaz stole one to hold a 4-1 lead at the break.
The seven-time world champion Edin made one of his patented around-the-horn triple takeouts in the fifth to get a single. Retornaz took two in the sixth as he knocked out Edin’s rock and the shooter hung on at the side of the rings.
Edin gave up a steal in the seventh and shook hands after his angle attempt missed the mark and hit the wrong Retornaz counter.
Retornaz, who won three straight Grand Slam titles earlier this season, is looking to become the first capture four championships in the series during a single year.
Earlier, South Korea’s Team Eunji Gim eliminated Sweden’s Team Anna Hasselborg 8-7 and Switzerland’s Team Silvana Tirinzoni topped South Korea’s Team Eun-Jung Kim 6-3 in the women’s quarterfinals.
Gim goes up against Sweden’s team Isabella Wranå and Tirinzoni takes on Ottawa’s Team Rachel Homan in the semifinals.
