NISKU, Alta. — Italy’s Team Joël Retornaz clinched a spot in the Co-op Canadian Open playoffs after defeating Scotland’s Team Ross Whyte 7-3 during Friday night’s round-robin finale.
Retornaz (3-1) was guaranteed at least one more match before entering the draw. The win secured a berth in Saturday’s quarterfinals, while a loss would have meant a detour through the tiebreakers.
Whyte had already qualified and wrapped up round-robin play with an identical 3-1 record.
“It feels good to pick up the win, but it especially feels good to pick up a great performance,” Retornaz said. “I think this was the best game this season so far. We worked as a team, we performed very well and had a great dynamic out there and we beat one of the best teams in the world. We’re happy about this and most important is the performance.”
Retornaz posted the exact opposite record last month at the HearingLife Tour Challenge in Charlottetown, missing the playoffs at 1-3, but has put that in the rearview mirror.
“Our goal is always to qualify in every single event we’re playing,” Retornaz said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s a Slam or a tour spiel or the nationals because that’s the minimum goal for us and then we’ll see what happens from there. We know that we’re playing sudden-death games, so the first goal is to qualify. We did it here, didn’t do it in Charlottetown, but Charlottetown is in the past and now we’re living in the present.”
It was a back-and-forth battle with runbacks and double takeouts galore as both teams fired highlight reel-worthy shots to keep it tight.
While Retornaz started with the hammer and maintained some control through the first half, Whyte grabbed a 3-2 lead in the fifth with a hit to score a deuce.
The four-time Grand Slam champion Retornaz had the house split in the seventh and regained the lead with an open hit for two.
Whyte could have drawn for the equalizer in the eighth end; however, he would then have to steal the win in the extra end. The other option was a Hail Mary pinball shot hitting off one rock, redirecting in to run back another and eliminating one more Retornaz rock to get his winning two points.
Whyte went for it, but his shooter didn’t touch them all. In fact, it touched none of them as it flashed through the house, and Retornaz tacked three stolen points to the board.
“That’s what I told my team after the game and I told coach (Ryan) Fry that I really enjoyed playing this game and had a lot of fun,” Retornaz said. “It didn’t happen in the last few games just because we were struggling a little bit, but we knew we had to play a great game tonight and it wasn’t easy because they didn’t give us anything. They were playing amazing as well.
“I think it was a great game to watch also for the fans up here. I also want to thank the fans because they’re amazing here in Nisku, Alberta.”
Meanwhile, Team Brad Gushue of St. John’s, N.L., stole two in the eighth end to escape with a 7-5 win over Switzerland’s Team Michael Brunner and take an unblemished 4-0 record into the playoffs.
Tied without the hammer coming home, Gushue made a great come-around draw to sit two biting the button and well-guarded. Brunner (0-4) attempted an angle raise but ran the stone through the house.
“It was a grid for sure,” Team Gushue lead Geoff Walker said. “It wasn’t our best game. Some challenges with the ice by both teams. We hung in there and obviously, Brad made a really good one on his last one. We played a good end in general and was able to get a miss out of him.”
The Co-op Canadian Open is the first Grand Slam of Curling event for Team Gushue with new second Brendan Bottcher. The former skip joined after Team Gushue parted ways with E.J. Harnden last month.
Walker said it’s been great having Bottcher on board and he has fit in seamlessly so far.
“People give him flack for sweeping, but he’s been doing a great job, sweeping his butt off and judging the rocks well,” Walker said. “We’re getting along really well and it’s nice for him to be on our team and not playing against him.”
Sweden’s Team Niklas Edin (3-1) doubled up on Team Kevin Koe of Calgary 8-4 to qualify for the playoffs.
Winnipeg’s Team Reid Carruthers ended things on a high note with a 6-5 extra-end win over Team James Craik of Scotland.
Koe, Carruthers and Craik all missed the playoffs with 1-3 records.
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Scotland’s Team Bruce Mouat (4-0), Calgary’s Team Brad Jacobs (3-1) and Switzerland’s Team Yannick Schwaller (3-1) are also in the men’s playoffs.
Mouat meets the tiebreaker winner, Jacobs plays Schwaller, Gushue gets Edin and Retornaz and Whyte go for one more in a rematch during the quarterfinals.
Ottawa’s Team Rachel Homan (4-0), Italy’s Team Stefania Constantini (3-1), South Korea’s Team Eun-jung Kim (3-1), Japan’s Team Satsuki Fujisawa (3-1) and South Korea’s Team Seung-Youn Ha (3-1) are through to the women’s playoffs.
Fujisawa facing Ha is the only quarterfinal matchup set as Homan, Constantini and Kim await the tiebreaker winners.
UP NEXT
Four tiebreaker games are set for Saturday at 10:30 a.m. ET / 8:30 a.m. MT.
Winnipeg’s Team Matt Dunstone plays Saskatoon’s Team Mike McEwen in the men’s division.
Three tiebreaker games are on tap on the women’s side: Edmonton’s Team Selena Sturmay faces Team Kerri Einarson of Gimli, Man., Team Chelsea Carey goes up against Team Kaitlyn Lawes in an all-Winnipeg matchup and Switzerland’s Team Silvana Tirinzoni takes on Japan’s Team Sayaka Yoshimura.
Coverage on Sportsnet One and Sportsnet+ resumes with the women’s quarterfinals at 2 p.m. ET / noon MT.
The men’s quarterfinals (6 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. MT) and both semifinals (10 p.m. ET / 8 p.m. MT) are also scheduled for Saturday.
