LONDON, Ont. — Joël Retornaz and his Italian team will carry an unblemished 4-0 record into the AMJ Masters playoffs.
Retornaz remained unbeaten after coming back to defeat Team Korey Dropkin of the United States 6-5 in a shootout during Friday's morning draw to wrap up round-robin play early.
After Dropkin scored four in the third end to take a two-point lead, Retornaz recovered to take two back in the fourth and tie it up 4-4.
The four-time Grand Slam of Curling champion Retornaz stole one in the seventh, and limited Dropkin (0-4) to a single in the eighth to force the draw to the button finale.
During the preliminary round and tiebreakers at the AMJ Masters, teams draw to the button to determine the winner instead of playing an extra end. Teams receive three points for a regulation win (in eight ends or less), two points for a shootout win and one point for a shootout loss. Extra ends will return for the playoffs.
Silvana Tirinzoni and her Swiss squad are also flying high into the playoffs.
Team Tirinzoni went 4-0 and earned the maximum 12 points on the women's side after scoring two in the eighth end to edge Japan's Team Sayaka Yoshimura 5-4.
Yoshimura was eliminated from playoff contention with a 1-3 record.
South Korea's Team Seung-youn Ha (1-3) ended on a positive note with a 6-4 decision against Switzerland's Team Xenia Schwaller (2-2).
Japan's Team Momoha Tabata remained in the mix at 2-2 with a 9-4 win to eliminate Canada's Team Kayla Skrlik (1-3).
UP NEXT
Round-robin play continues with Draw 14 at 11:30 a.m. ET / 8:30 a.m. PT.
Tickets are available at GSOCtickets.com with live online streaming at rockchannel.com and broadcast coverage on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+.
NOTES
The AMJ Masters features 16 of the top men’s teams and 16 of the top women’s teams.
The top eight teams qualify for the playoffs. If necessary, tiebreakers will be played Saturday morning. The quarterfinals and semifinals are set for Saturday. Both finals are scheduled for Sunday.
