NISKU, Alta. — The final day of preliminary play at the CO-OP Tour Challenge meant crunch time to qualify for the playoffs — and it's still not set with tiebreakers galore to kick off Saturday's action.
Team Brad Gushue and Team Mike McEwen will meet in an all-Canadian clash alongside Germany's Team Marc Muskatewitz versus Scotland's Team Kyle Waddell for the final two men's spots in the quarterfinals. Japan's Team Satsuki Fujisawa faces South Korea's Team Eun-ji Gim and Japan's Team Momoha Tabata takes on Sweden's Team Isabella Wranå on the women's side.
The 15-time Grand Slam of Curling champion Gushue slid into the tiebreakers after scoring four points in the seventh end to defeat Canada's Team Matt Dunstone 9-5 Friday evening in the preliminary play finale.
ALL PART OF THE PLAN
Sweden's Team Anna Hasselborg topped Canada's Team Kerri Einarson 6-5 in the shootout Friday afternoon, but it was interesting how the late stages of the game unfolded to get there.
Hasselborg, who had already qualified for the playoffs, opted to throw away her last rock of the seventh end to concede a point and a 5-4 lead. While it may seem strange, that allowed Hasselborg to retain the hammer coming home.
It looked like Hasselborg had the table set for the winning deuce until Einarson pulled off one of her trademark slash doubles with her final shot. That limited Hasselborg to an equalizing single; however, it gave her a practice shot to draw to the button ahead of the shootout.
"We had the privilege of being 3-0, so we knew a win in a shootout is a good result for us," said Hasselborg, who earned the second seed in the playoffs. "Otherwise, we'll probably take one in the seventh. Statistically, that is really good for us, but we played the eighth really conservatively.
"In the end, she still had to make a really hard slash, so I think we played it well, and it was nice. I got one practice draw in there, too."
All part of the plan, right?
"It was almost like my goal all the time if we get our rocks on that side, she's probably rolling off, and I can draw," Hasselborg said. "It was a great game, and it was a very fun game to play. It was lots of good shots made along the whole way."
Hasselborg just needed her rock to roll into the eight-foot circle to outcount Einarson's shootout attempt, but the eight-time Grand Slam champ covered the pin for fun.
"Agnes (Knochenhauer) told me she liked it out of the hand, so then I just stepped off and (let them) do their thing," Hasselborg said with a smile.
SCHWALLER SECURES PLAYOFF BERTH
Xenia Schwaller and her Swiss squad locked down a spot in the women's quarterfinals with a 6-5 victory Friday afternoon to cool Stefania Constantini and hand the Italian club its first loss of the week.
Thievery was the name of the game. Schwaller stole a single out of the gate in the opening end when Constantini clipped a guard with her last rock. The 2024 world junior champion swiped back-to-back points in six and seven to take a 6-4 advantage as Constantini continued to struggle.
Although Constantini held the hammer coming home looking to force a shootout, she couldn't get more than one.
Schwaller said it's awesome to qualify, as both teams are moving on with 3-1 records — and will meet again in the quarterfinals.
"We really needed that win to make the playoffs because our draw shot wasn’t the best," Schwaller said. "It was a little bit shaky in the first half, but then we got full control of the game, so yeah, good win."
Schwaller squeaked into the playoffs for the first time in the Grand Slam of Curling series last month at the AMJ Masters with a 2-2 record. She said it feels very good to advance for a second time.
"That was our goal coming into this season," said Schwaller, who has won 10 titles on tour over the past two years. "We had a tough season last year in the Slams. We weren't able to qualify, so that was a big goal for us to make the quarterfinals or semifinals at the Slams and especially play well like we do on tour. So yeah, so far it's going great."
SCHWALLER WORLD
The Schwaller family is out in full force this week.
Xenia Schwaller's sister Zoe and their dad Andi are both on the bench, while cousin Yannick was playing a couple of sheets over with his men's team.
"It's a lot of fun to have them around here with me, especially when you're on tour for so long," Xenia Schwaller said. "It's cool.”
Schwaller also has coach John Epping on the bench — that is, when he's not on the ice.
"We reached out to him this summer, and he was very open for it from the beginning," Schwaller said. "We had a few meetings with him and worked on a few things. Now this season, beginning of September, we met up, had some great practices. He came to a few tournaments with us, and now he's on the bench when he can, obviously.
"He's so cool. We can learn a lot from him. He brings the energy to the team that we need, so it's great.”
GAME OF MILLIMETRES
Sweden's Team Niklas Edin edged Switzerland's Team Yannick Schwaller 5-4 by the closest of margins in the shootout.
After Edin drew the button, 5.0 cm from the pinhole, Team Schwaller's Benoît Schwarz-van Berkel landed on the lid but rolled just a hair too deep: 5.2 cm.
Edin earned his third win of the tournament to qualify for the playoffs with eight points. Schwaller also made the cut with two wins and the shootout loss (seven points).
Game of inches? More like a game of millimetres.
WOMEN'S QUARTERFINALS
• 1. Team Silvana Tirinzoni (12 points) vs. tiebreaker winner: The Swiss squad completed a 4-0 run with an 8-3 win over Japan's Team Satsuki Fujisawa.
• 2. Team Anna Hasselborg (11 points) vs. tiebreaker winner: Hasselborg also qualified early at 3-0, and added a 6-5 shootout win over Canada's Team Kerri Einarson to remain undefeated.
• 3. Team Rachel Homan (nine points) vs. 6. Team Kerri Einarson (seven points): Homan qualified at 3-1 with a 7-4 win over Japan's Team Sayaka Yoshimura in the evening draw. Einarson advanced with two regulation wins and a shootout loss point against Hasselborg.
• 4. Team Xenia Schwaller (nine points) vs. 5. Team Stefania Constantini (nine points): Both advanced with 3-1 records and are set for a rematch.
• Tiebreaker: Team Momoha Tabata vs. Team Isabella Wranå
• Tiebreaker: Team Satsuki Fujisawa vs. Team Eun-ji Gim
MEN'S QUARTERFINALS
• 1. Team John Epping (12 points) vs. tiebreaker winner: Epping already qualified and is all tuned up for the playoffs with a 6-4 win over Scotland's Team Kyle Waddell.
• 2. Team Bruce Mouat (nine points) vs. tiebreaker winner: Mouat qualified with three wins but lost the preliminary play finale 5-3 to Italy's Team Joël Retornaz.
• 3. Team Joël Retornaz (nine points) vs. 6. Team Yannick Schwaller (seven points): Retornaz advanced at 3-1 following the win over Mouat. Schwaller qualified with two regulation wins and a shootout loss to Edin.
• 4. Team Matt Dunstone (nine points) vs. 5. Team Niklas Edin: Dunstone qualified with three wins, but lost his last one to Gushue. Edin qualified with two regulation wins and a 5-4 shootout win over Schwaller.
• Tiebreaker: Team Brad Gushue vs. Team Mike McEwen
• Tiebreaker: Team Marc Muskatewitz vs. Team Kyle Waddell
FRIDAY'S RESULTS
Draw 13
• Dropkin 6, Whyte 5 (shootout)
• Ha 7, Skrlik 3
• Tabata 9, Black 7
• Hösli 6, Kleiter 4
Draw 14
• Gim 9, Kim 5
• Edin 5, Y. Schwaller 4 (shootout)
• McEwen 9, Carruthers 3
• X. Schwaller 6, Constantini 5
Draw 15
• Epping 6, Waddell 4
• Hasselborg 6, Einarson 5 (shootout)
• Tirinzoni 8, Fujisawa 3
• Muskatewitz 4, Koe 1
Draw 16
• Wranå 9, Lawes 5
• Homan 7, Yoshimura 4
• Gushue 9, Dunstone 5
• Retornaz 5, Mouat 3
UP NEXT
The men's and women's tiebreakers go down Saturday at 8:30 a.m. MT (10:30 a.m. ET).
Playoff coverage begins with the women's quarterfinals at Noon MT (2 p.m. ET), followed by the men's quarterfinals at 4 p.m. MT (6 p.m. ET). The men's and women's semifinals get underway at 8 p.m. MT (10 p.m. ET).
Watch every game live on rockchannel.com. Fans in Canada can also watch live on Sportsnet One and Sportsnet+.
