SASKATOON — Sunday's finals are set for the HearingLife Canadian Open at Merlis Belsher Place.
It'll be Japan's Team Satsuki Fujisawa vs. Switzerland's Team Silvana Tirinzoni in the women's final and Scotland's Team Ross Whyte vs. Switzerland's Team Yannick Schwaller in the men's final.
Here's how it all went down Saturday.
SEMIFINALS
Fujisawa advanced with a 7-5 victory over Team Momoha Tabata in an all-Japanese matchup and a stunning turn of events.
After Team Tabata took two in the third and stole one in the fourth to go up 4-1, Fujisawa fired back with a three-ender in the fifth to tie it and stole two in the sixth for the lead as Tabata's fourth Miki Nihira's in-off and roll stopped short. Nihira looked to make a split for two in the seventh, but wrecked on a guard to give up another point.
Nihira could only count one in the eighth.
For the first time in Grand Slam history, three Japanese women's teams made it to the semis. Team Sayaka Yoshimura reached the final four on the other side of the bracket, but Tirinzoni came out on top 5-4.
Team Ross Whyte scored two in the seventh and stole two in the eighth to edge Team Bruce Mouat in an all-Scottish showdown.
Mouat held the hammer coming home, but his last rock rolled deep.
The 12-time Grand Slam champ Mouat settled for a single in the fourth and stole one in the fifth to get a 4-2 lead. Whyte blanked the sixth and made a nose hit double to score the tying two points in the seventh.
Schwaller moved on with a 7-5 win over Team John Shuster of the United States.
Team Schwaller scored three in the first and led 4-1 after three, but Shuster took two in the fourth and stole one in the fifth to tie it up.
Benoît Schwarz-van Berkel tapped for two points in the sixth end to grab a 6-4 advantage, and Shuster was forced to a single in the seventh. Team Schwaller added another point in the eighth.
MEN'S QUARTERFINALS
Canada's Brad Gushue has left the building in the Grand Slam of Curling.
Gushue, who announced he would be retiring at the end of the season, was eliminated in the HearingLife Canadian Open men's quarterfinals with a 9-4 loss to John Shuster of the United States.
The 15-time Grand Slam champ Gushue was too low in the world rankings to receive an invitation to next month's Crown Royal Players' Championship.
His career is not over yet as he's set to compete in the Montana's Brier in February in his hometown of St. John's, N.L., where he will seek a record-extending seventh Canadian men's title.
Gushue got on the board first with a steal, as Shuster faced four counters and cut the damage down to one with an open hit.
Shuster recovered to take two in the second, and Gushue had to settle for a single in the third to tie it 2-2.
Shuster made an amazing double angle raise to score three in the fourth and stole two in the fifth as Gushue's runback went through the wickets. Gushue pulled off a double takeout in the sixth to score two, but Shuster matched to count another pair of points in the seventh to bring out the handshakes.
Shuster reached the semifinals in a Grand Slam event for the first time in over a decade. His Duluth, Minn., club will play Team Yannick Schwaller. The Swiss squad advanced with a 7-1 rout over Germany's Team Marc Muskatewitz.
For the first time ever, there will be zero Canadian teams in a Grand Slam of Curling semifinal round, as Team Bruce Mouat and Team Ross Whyte meet on the other side of the bracket.
Mouat defeated Italy's Team Joël Retornaz 5-2 and Whyte ousted Canada's Team Brad Jacobs 8-6.
Earlier Saturday, Retornaz eliminated Scotland's Team Kyle Waddell 9-8 in a tiebreaker to qualify for the playoffs.
WOMEN'S QUARTERFINALS
Japanese curling is having a moment at the HearingLife Canadian Open.
Three Japanese teams advanced to the semifinals of a Grand Slam of Curling tournament for the first time in series history.
Team Satsuki Fujisawa eliminated Canada's Team Rachel Homan 5-4, Team Momoha Tabata topped No. 1 seed Team Seung-youn Ha of South Korea 7-6 in an extra end and Team Sayaka Yoshimura eliminated Canada's Team Kerri Einarson 9-6.
Fujisawa and Tabata will face in the semifinals, with Yoshimura set to meet Team Silvana Tirinzoni after the Swiss squad downed China's Team Wang Rui 7-4.
Two streaks came to an end for Homan, as her Ottawa-based club had won the past three Grand Slam of Curling women's titles and reached a record eight consecutive finals.
Homan started strong, drawing for a deuce in the first and forcing Fujisawa to a single in the second, but back-to-back steals in the third and fourth put the Kitami-based club into the lead.
The 20-time Grand Slam champ Homan missed on an opportunity to score more than a single in the fifth.
Fujisawa drew to the button for a point in the sixth and put the pressure on in the seventh to sit four counters, with two close together in the four-foot circle. Homan surrendered one to trail by two and retain the hammer coming home.
Homan was only able to tack on a single in the eighth.
Meanwhile, Team Tabata trailed by two after fourth Miku Nihira's last rock of the sixth end flashed through the rings. Nihira bounced back big time in the seventh, throwing through the port to hit and score three right back. Ha was limited to a single in the eighth, and Nihira scored the OT winner.
Both Ha and Einarson entered the playoffs undefeated, while Tabata and Yoshimura won morning tiebreakers to clinch the final two playoff spots. Tabata beat South Korea's Team Bo-bae Kang 6-4 and Yoshimura thumped Sweden's Team Anna Hasselborg 7-1 in an Olympic preview.
Einarson opened with the hammer for the first time this week in the quarterfinals and was looking to make a runback to potentially score three points in the first against Yoshimura. She had to settle for a single, as her shooter grazed a guard along the way and didn't connect on the raise at the right enough angle, as Yoshimura's rock remained for the second shot.
Yoshimura hit for two points in the second and stole three in the third to grab a 5-1 advantage as Einarson whiffed on the runback, taking out two of her own stones.
Einarson recovered and made an angle raise bump on the staggered rocks to remove Yoshimura's stone at the back and score three.
After Yoshimura took two in the fifth, Einarson made a tricky hit for a single in the sixth.
Yoshimura's first skip stone in seven flashed through the house, but she intentionally threw away her last to not risk surrendering more than a point.
Yoshimura tacked two on the board in the eighth for insurance.
Tirinzoni came out strong with a three-ender in the first and took two in the fourth to lead 5-2 at the break.
It was just singles back and forth from there, as Pätz doubled out Wang's rocks in the eighth.
SATURDAY'S SCHEDULE/RESULTS
Tiebreakers: 9:30 a.m. ET / 8:30 a.m. CT
• Tabata 6, Kang 4
• Yoshimura 7, Hasselborg 1
• Retornaz 9, Waddell 8
Women's Quarterfinals: 1 p.m. ET / Noon CT
• Tabata 7, Ha 6 (extra end)
• Fujisawa 5, Homan 4
• Yoshimura 9, Einarson 6
• Tirinzoni 7, Wang 4
Men's Quarterfinals: 5 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. CT
• Mouat 5, Retornaz 3
• Whyte 8, Jacobs 6
• Y. Schwaller 7, Muskatewitz 1
• Shuster 9, Gushue 4
Men's and Women's Semifinals: 9 p.m. ET / 8 p.m. CT
• Fujisawa 7, Tabata 5
• Tirinzoni 5, Yoshimura 4
• Whyte 6, Mouat 4
• Y. Schwaller 7, Shuster 5
