Retornaz escapes with win over Koe in extra end at WFG Masters
SASKATOON — Team Joël Retornaz of Italy stole the winning point in the extra end to edge Calgary’s Team Kevin Koe 6-5 during Draw 11 of the WFG Masters on Thursday.
Retornaz, who has won back-to-back Grand Slam of Curling titles to start the season, picked up a second consecutive win in the major tournament at Merlis Belsher Place and improved to a 2-1 record while Koe is now at 1-2.
“Every win is important in the Slams,” Retornaz said. “We always play top teams here. No games are easy, so that’s what we expect: to play until the last end, to play the extra end and try to win as many as possible. We had a good performance today and that’s why we won.”
The world No. 1 Retornaz wraps up round-robin play Friday against Niklas Edin in a rematch of last month’s KIOTI National men’s final.
“It was of course super important that we win this game because at a 2-1 record it means that everything is in your hands in the last game tomorrow,” said Retornaz, who won his first career Grand Slam title at the WFG Masters one year ago. “We need to have a good performance tomorrow, try to win tomorrow’s game and qualify for the playoffs.”
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Retornaz never led in the game until it was over as it was an evenly matched battle.
Koe, who opened with the hammer, was forced to hit for a single point while facing three counters in the first. Koe also sat a trio in the second though as Retornaz then had to draw for one to tie it.
The teams traded pairs of points as Koe bumped in for a deuce in the third and Retornaz made an open tap for two in the fourth to knot it up again at 3-all.
Koe, who has won five Grand Slam titles as a skip, was forced to draw against three again in the fifth to pull back ahead. Retornaz had the shot rock in his pocket in the sixth and attempted to raise another in for two, however, he hit it too thick and rolled away to only get a single point.
Koe was forced to draw for a single once more in the seventh. Retornaz looked to make a double and score two for the win in the eighth, but his shooter spun away and only counted the equalizing single that forced the extra end.
Retornaz was able to nudge his final rock into the cluster of granite for shot stone, but fate lay with Koe, who held the all-important hammer. Koe wasn’t able to navigate the in-turn path though as his shooter wrecked on a guard.
“You need to have lots of rocks in play and try to build a possible steal situation for your last rock that you can place it there and try to make them make mistakes,” Retornaz said. “You can’t steal an extra end without them making mistakes and they made a couple of mistakes in the extra, which they usually don’t do. That’s why we had a situation where we could put pressure on them for the last shot. They missed the last shot and that’s how we stole.”
Elsewhere in Draw 11, Winnipeg’s Team Reid Carruthers, with Brad Jacobs skipping, are on a roll at 3-0 following a 5-2 victory over Scotland’s Team Bruce Mouat (2-1).
“It feels good,” Team Carruthers lead Connor Njegovan said. “We played very well and it’s nice to keep some momentum going against an obviously really good team.”
Jacobs and Carruthers have switched positions in the throwing order this week which appears to have created the spark they were hoping for.
“I think we were individually working so hard and we feel with this lineup right now, we have a really good chemistry and the flow of the game is going great for us,” Njegovan said. “Reid is such a good human being and such a good caddy, Brad has been one of the best skips in the world for years, so it’s kind of just meshing all their personalities together and it seems to be working really well.”
Mouat, second Bobby Lammie and lead Hammy McMillan Jr. are playing as three this week. Third Grant Hardie is recuperating from minor surgery and did not make the trip overseas.
Winnipeg’s Team Matt Dunstone (2-1) got back on track with a 6-5 win over Team Cameron Bryce from Scotland. Bryce, playing in his first top-tier Grand Slam event, fell to a 0-3 record and has been eliminated from playoff contention.
Sweden’s Team Niklas Edin (2-1) also returned to the win column with a 5-3 decision against Scotland’s Team James Craik (0-3).
NOTES
The WFG Masters is the third 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. … Round-robin play runs through to Friday evening. The top eight teams in both divisions advance to Saturday’s quarterfinals. If necessary, tiebreakers will be played Saturday morning to determine the final playoff spots. … The semifinals are also scheduled for Saturday with both finals on tap Sunday.
