Gushue, Homan advance to finals at Grand Slam of Curling’s Canadian Open
Brad Gushue and Bruce Mouat to Face off in Grand Slam of Curling Championship Final
Excitement is building as Brad Gushue and Bruce Mouat prepare to battle it out in Sunday’s championship final at the Grand Slam of Curling’s Co-op Canadian Open in Nisku, Alta.
Gushue, along with his team from St. John’s — Mark Nichols, Brendan Bottcher, and Geoff Walker — secured their spot in the final by defeating Yannick Schwaller of Geneva, Switzerland with a solid 6-2 victory in Saturday’s semifinal match.
The game saw Gushue taking an early lead, scoring a single in the second end, followed by steals of one in the third and fourth ends. Schwaller managed to counter with a deuce in the fifth end, but Gushue came back strong, scoring three points in the sixth end and ultimately running Schwaller out of rocks.
On the other side of the bracket, Mouat from Stirling, Scotland, emerged victorious in his semifinal match against Joel Retornaz of Trentino, Italy, with a final score of 4-2.
Mouat took control early in the game, scoring a pair in the first end, and then adding steals of one in the fourth and sixth ends. Retornaz fought back with a deuce in the seventh, but it wasn’t enough as Mouat sealed the win by running his opponent out of rocks in the eighth end.
Meanwhile, in the women’s semifinals, Silvana Tirinzoni of Aarau, Switzerland, clinched a spot in the final by edging out Kim Eun-jung of South Korea with a narrow 5-4 victory, thanks to a single point scored in the eighth end.
On the other side, Rachel Homan’s team from Ottawa, including Tracy Fleury, Emma Miskew, and Sarah Wilkes, dominated their semifinal match against Ha Seung-youn of South Korea, with a commanding 6-1 win.
Homan’s team set the tone early by scoring three points in the first end, giving up only one in the fourth, and then adding three more in the fifth to secure their spot in the final.
It will be an intense final as Tirinzoni and Homan face off on Sunday for the championship title in what promises to be a thrilling conclusion to the Grand Slam of Curling’s Co-op Canadian Open.
