Canada's Lawes beats Japan's Kitazawa at Grand Slam of Curling's Co-op Canadian Open

NISKU, Alta. — Canada's Brad Gushue improved to 2-0 with an 8-2 victory over Kevin Koe on Wednesday at the Grand Slam of Curling's Co-op Canadian Open.

Gushue, from St. John's, N.L., started out hot, jumping out to a 5-0 lead after just two ends. Koe, from Calgary, conceded the final two ends, closing the game after six ends.

Calgary's Brad Jacobs also remained undefeated at 2-0 with a 8-2 win over American John Shuster. In other games from Wednesday's final draw, Winnipeg's Matt Dunstone defeated Saskatoon's Mike McEwen 8-4 and Switzerland's Marco Hoesli topped Yannick Schwaller, also from Switzerland 8-1.

In women's action, Ottawa's Rachel Homan beat Edmonton's Selena Sturmay 4-3 to be 2-0. Winnipeg's Chelsea Carey also improved to 2-0 with a 9-2 win over Sweden's Isabella Wrana.

Meanwhile, Kerri Einarson of Gimli, Man., fell 6-4 to Japan's Sayaka Yoshimura for her first loss at the event.

Earlier in the day, Winnipeg's Kaitlyn Lawes defeated Japan's Ikue Kitazawa 6-4 in the opening draw. In other early games, Xenia Schwaller edged Silvana Tirinzoni 6-5 in an all-Swiss battle, Italy's Stefania Constantini beat South Korea's Seung-youn Ha 7-3 and Japan's Satsuki Fujisawa dumped South Korea's Eun-ji Gim 8-2.

The playoffs start Saturday and the finals are set for Sunday at the Grand Slam of Curling event.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.