News Masters

GUELPH, Ont. — It probably shouldn’t have come as a surprise that Brad Gushue selected Marc Muskatewitz during the draft to determine the pools for the WFG Masters.

Gushue and his St. John’s, N.L.-based team had won all three of their previous matches against the German side, including once during last month’s KIOTI National on home ice.

Be careful what you wish for as Muskatewitz took advantage of some uncharacteristic misses from Gushue to pull off a 4-3 victory Wednesday during Draw 7 action at the Sleeman Centre.

“It’s a nice system and we really liked it,” Muskatewitz said. “I think we were pretty sure they would pick us because they had never lost against us, so it makes sense they picked us for sure.”

Muskatewitz improved to a 2-0 record in the Grand Slam of Curling tournament while Gushue dropped to 0-2 and must now win out to remain in contention.

“It feels really good,” said Muskatewitz, who posted a perfect record to win the Karuizawa International just before the holiday break. “Still on the winning streak this season. It was a really close game and it feels great.”

Gushue opened with the hammer and had a chance to hit for two in the second, however, his rock didn’t curl over enough and just ticked Muskatewitz’s shot rock to give up a steal. The 15-time Grand Slam champion Gushue fell behind 2-0 after conceding another steal in the third when he jammed a takeout attempt. 

It looked like the tables had turned after Gushue tapped for a tying two points in the fourth and pulled ahead 3-2 in the fifth as he sat shot rock buried behind his own guard and Muskatewitz’s raise attempt to blank had jammed.

Gushue forced Muskatewitz to draw for the tying single in the sixth and blanked the seventh to retain the hammer coming home. 

A draw to the four-foot circle, one of Gushue’s bread-and-butter shots, was what he needed with the last shot of the game, however, his shooter rolled too deep. 

“I think we were pretty good at placing the rocks behind the centre guards,” Muskatewitz said. “He had the half-weight shots to make and twice it was a little bit straighter. I think also the ice is straighter than usual at the Slams, so I think that was the difference.”

Elsewhere in Draw 7, Team Matt Dunstone of Winnipeg moved up to a 2-0 record with a 5-3 win over Switzerland’s Team Yannick Schwaller (1-1).

Team Joël Retornaz of Italy earned a 5-4 decision against Saskatoon’s Team Rylan Kleiter. The double-defending champion Retornaz is now level at 1-1. Kleiter, who captured the HearingLife Tour Challenge Tier 2 title to receive an invitation to the event, has dropped to 0-2.

Scotland’s Team Ross Whyte made a raise takeout to score the winning single in the extra end to edge Norway’s Team Magnus Ramsfjell 8-7. Both teams are even at 1-1 records.

UP NEXT

One more draw is on tap Wednesday at the Sleeman Centre with round-robin play running through to Friday evening. Tickets are available at Ticketmaster.ca.

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

Broadcast coverage on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+ begins with Draw 10 Thursday at 11:30 a.m. ET / 8:30 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. … The top eight in both divisions qualify for the playoffs. … If necessary, one tiebreaker round will be held Saturday morning. … The quarterfinals and semifinals are scheduled for Saturday with both finals slated for Sunday. … A new rule is being tested this week where teams will lose the hammer if they blank two consecutive ends.