News Masters

GUELPH, Ont. — It was another first for the Grand Slam of Curling at the WFG Masters.

After letting the top four teams set their pools for round-robin play in an online draft, the series staged an in-person draft Friday as the top playoff seeds chose their opponents for the quarterfinals for the first time.

Calgary’s Team Brad Jacobs held the No. 1 pick in the men’s draft and selected Team Marc Muskatewitz of Germany.

Winnipeg’s Team Matt Dunstone went second and took the winner of Saturday morning’s tiebreaker between Team John Epping of Sudbury, Ont., and Team Korey Dropkin of the United States.

Scotland’s Team Ross Whyte grabbed Sweden’s Team Niklas Edin with Scotland’s Team Bruce Mouat getting the winner of the tiebreaker between Switzerland’s Team Yannick Schwaller and Italy’s Team Joël Retornaz.

“That was neat,” Jacobs said. “It was fun, everybody seemed to have a little bit of fun with it. It was something different that we’ve never seen before, but it also puts a little bit of pressure on all of us to go out and perform tomorrow and that’s OK.”

Sweden’s Team Anna Hasselborg had the first pick for the women’s draft and teased taking Team Rachel Homan even though the Ottawa club was not among the teams available. Hasselborg’s real pick was the tiebreaker winner of Ottawa’s Team Danielle Inglis against Japan’s Team Momoha Tabata.

Hasselborg, who was wearing a Team Homan shirt, credited her former coach for the antics during the draft.

“The Slams are about having fun and I want to drop Wayne Middaugh’s name in there too,” said Hasselborg, who added with a laugh: “We might have had dinner with him last night, so we had some fun with it.”

South Korea’s Team Eun-jung Kim took the winner of the tiebreaker between Winnipeg’s Team Kaitlyn Lawes and Team Satsuki Fujisawa of Japan.

Homan went with Switzerland’s Team Silvana Tirinzoni as Sweden’s Team Isabella Wrana was left with Team Kerri Einarson of Gimli, Man.

“It was fun and I think the idea of it even is pretty cool because it gives you the opportunity to not have to play a top-ranked team who just had an off week like let’s say Tirinzoni for example or someone like that,” Hasselborg said. “But all teams are top teams, so it’s definitely going to be a battle for the quarterfinals.

“We played Inglis (in round-robin play) and had a tough shot for the win. They played really well against us, so we’ll see. And Tabata, we played against a few weeks ago. It’s all tough teams out there.”

Jacobs wrapped up round-robin play undefeated at 4-0 with a 7-3 victory over Edin in only five ends during the evening draw.

Although Edin opened with the hammer, his last rock of the first end rolled heavy to concede a game-breaking five points. After the teams alternated singles, Jacobs stole another point in the fourth end to hold a six-point advantage. Edin (2-2) took two in the fifth then shook hands.

“We played great tonight and we played great all week,” Jacobs said. “We got some breaks along the way, but we’re making all the shots that we need to and hopefully, that just continues for the next few games here.”

Elsewhere, Epping took two in the extra end to edge Switzerland’s Team Marco Hösli 7-5 for the final men’s tiebreaker spot.

Epping (2-2) was up by one in the eighth end without the hammer and jammed a double takeout attempt to give fourth Philipp Hösli an opportunity to draw for two and the win. Hösli’s rock was heavy and Epping swept it out the back of the house to force OT.

Hösli (1-3) had the freeze in the extra, however, Epping bopped and unlocked it to advance.

Dropkin (2-2) downed Winnipeg’s Team Jordon McDonald 8-2 for a tiebreaker spot. McDonald finished with a 1-3 record in his Grand Slam debut.

Mouat (3-1) made it straight to the quarterfinals with a 5-2 win over Saskatoon’s Team Mike McEwen (1-3).

Dunstone (4-0), Muskatewitz (3-1), Schwaller (2-2) and Retornaz (2-2) finished round-robin play earlier Friday.

UP NEXT

The tiebreakers are set for Saturday at 7:30 a.m. ET / 4:30 a.m. PT.

Live streaming of every game is available in free preview via HomeTeam.

Broadcast coverage on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+ resumes with the men’s quarterfinals at 11 a.m. ET / 8 a.m. PT.

NOTES

The WFG Masters is the fourth Grand Slam of Curling event of the season featuring 16 of the top men’s teams and 16 of the top women’s teams from around the world. … A new rule is being tested this week where teams will lose the hammer if they blank two consecutive ends. … The quarterfinals and semifinals are also scheduled for Saturday with both finals slated for Sunday.