Italian skip Joel Retornaz throws while taking on Canada at the Men's World Curling Championship in Ottawa on Saturday, April 1, 2023. Retornaz continued his impressive play on the Grand Slam of Curling circuit with a 7-4 win over Switzerland's Yannick Schwaller on Friday at the Kioti National. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
PICTOU, N.S. – Canada’s Rachel Homan and Jennifer Jones are through to the quarterfinals of the Kioti National on the Grand Slam of Curling circuit.
Homan will face off against Kerri Einarson while Jones will battle Silvana Tirinzoni on Saturday.
Jones beat Tirinzoni 6-4 in early play to seal her place while Homan beat Anna Hasselborg 6-4 in the late draw on Friday night.
On the men’s side, Italy’s Joel Retornaz continued his impressive play with a 7-4 win over Switzerland’s Yannick Schwaller on Friday.
Retornaz’s team broke open a close game with four points in the seventh end to finish round-robin play atop the men’s standings at 4-0.
Retornaz, who won the men’s title at the season-opening HearingLife Tour Challenge last month in Niagara Falls, Ont., faces American Korey Dropkin in Saturday’s quarterfinals.
Dropkin fell 9-4 to Scotland’s James Craik in the men’s final draw. Both teams were among seven that finished tied at 2-2. Dropkin and Craik moved on, however, based on draw-to-the-button shootout scores.
Schwaller fell to 3-1 and will face Craik in the quarterfinals.
Elsewhere in Draw 15 scores, Calgary’s Kevin Koe defeated Scotland’s Team Bruce Mouat 7-6 in an extra end. Both teams finished at 2-2, but Mouat moved on despite loss because of his draw-to-the-button score, while Koe was eliminated.
Mouat will next face Sweden’s Niklas Edin in a quarterfinal matchup of recent world champions – Mouat this year, Edin the four previous championships.
The other quarterfinal pits Edmonton’s Brendan Bottcher against Scotland’s Ross Whyte.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 10, 2023.
