CurlingZone: Edin, Retornaz book playoff spots

Edin (Photo: Anil Mungal/GSOC) beat Koe, while Retornaz bested Whyte in Nisku.

By: Cameron Sallaj

The men's playoff bracket is near complete at the Co-op Canadian Open with only one spot still left to fill. Thursday night, both Niklas Edin of Sweden and Joel Retornaz of Italy made the picture clearer by securing victories to advance to the knockout round.

On one side of the Silent Ice Arena, the reigning world and Olympic champions from Sweden got off to a hot start against Calgary's Kevin Koe, scoring three in the first end. They then stole one in the second end before getting two more in the fourth to jump ahead 6-1.

The Alberta rink was not done just yet though, as Koe managed to tack two on the board in the fifth and steal one in the sixth to bring the game within two. This would prove to not be enough, however, as Edin scored two more in the seventh end for an 8-4 win.

On the opposite side of the complex, Italy's Joel Retornaz needed to go the full distance to fend off Scotland's Ross Whyte in the game that remained close the entire way through. In the first half, it was only singles put on the board with Retornaz scoring in the fourth for a 2-1 lead.

In five, Whyte scored the first deuce of the game to give his team their first lead. This did not last for long though as the Italians then got two back in the seventh to lead by one coming home.

Not liking his chances in an extra end, Ross Whyte went for the triple takeout to win the game on his last rock. Unfortunately, it overcurled and flashed everything with Italy adding three more to their total, giving them a dicey 7-3 win to secure qualification.

Watch Curling!

WATCH Draw 16: Edin vs Koe

Watch Curling!

WATCH Draw 16: Retornaz vs Whyte

Each now holding 3-1 records, Retornaz and Edin advance to the quarterfinal round where they will take on familiar opponents. Team Retornaz (#4) will again go against Team Whyte (#5) while Team Edin (#7) will have a rematch against the undefeated Team Brad Gushue (#2). The other known quarterfinal will feature Team Brad Jacobs (#3) against Team Yannick Schwaller (#6) in another rematch.

Team Bruce Mouat, who finished as the top seed, will have to wait for the results of the tiebreaker to see who their opponent will be. The Scottish side will take on either Team Mike McEwen or Team Matt Dunstone, both of which will be repeat games.

Tiebreaker action from the Co-op Canadian Open gets underway Saturday at 8:30 AM MT with one men's game and three women's games set to take place. The winners will then move into the quarterfinal rounds which will be played at 12:00 PM (Women's) and 4:00 PM (Men's). The semifinals will then go at 8:00 PM.

Tiebreakers:
Team Mike McEwen vs Team Matt Dunstone
Team Selena Sturmay vs Team Kerri Einarson
Team Chelsea Carey vs Team Kaitlyn Lawes
Team Sayaka Yoshimura vs Team Silvana Tirinzoni

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