LONDON, Ont. — China's Team Rui Wang is on the board in the AMJ Masters.
Wang defeated Japan's Team Momoha Tabata 7-6 in a shootout during Draw 9 action Thursday morning at the Western Fair Sports Centre.
During the preliminary round and tiebreakers, the first Grand Slam of Curling event of the season features a draw to the button to determine the winner instead of extra ends. 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.
Trailing 6-4, Wang made a great double takeout to score the tying two points in the eighth end and force the shootout scenario.
Team Wang's rock landed right on the button, while Team Tabata's attempt rolled deep.
Both Wang (1-2, two points) and Tabata (1-2, four points) have one more game to go in the preliminary round.
Canada's Team Christina Black also clinched a victory in a shootout, beating South Korea's Team Seung-youn Ha 7-6.
Black improved to a 2-1 record (five points), while Ha remains winless at 0-3 (one point).
In men's play, Italy's Team Joël Retornaz remained undefeated with an 8-3 victory over China's Team Xiaoming Xu.
Retornaz climbed to a 3-0 record (nine points), with Xu at 1-2 (three points).
Norway's Team Magnus Ramsfjell secured a 5-3 victory over Team Korey Dropkin of the United States.
Dropkin (0-3, zero points) has been eliminated from playoff contention, while Ramfjell (2-1, six points) is in the mix.
UP NEXT
Round-robin play continues with Draw 10 at 11:30 a.m. ET / 8:30 a.m. PT. Tickets are available at GSOCtickets.com with live online streaming at rockchannel.com plus 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.
Preliminary play runs through to Friday with the top eight teams qualifying 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.
