Canada’s Brad Gushue tuned up for the playoffs Friday morning with a 9-5 victory over Turkey’s Ugurcan Karagoz at the world men’s curling championship.
Gushue broke a tie in the fifth end by making a hit for four points. Turkey conceded after scoring a single in the eighth.
“Not the bounceback I was hoping for this morning,” said Gushue, who fell to Scotland on Thursday night. “But we’ve got tonight.”
Gushue and teammates Mark Nichols, E.J. Harnden and Geoff Walker secured one of the six available playoff berths a day earlier.
Canada (8-3) will close out round-robin play Friday evening against defending champion Niklas Edin of Sweden (9-1) in a rematch of last year’s final.
Switzerland’s Yannick Schwaller (10-1), Sweden, Norway’s Magnus Ramsfjell (9-2) and Scotland’s Bruce Mouat (8-2) also secured playoff berths on Thursday.
Italy’s Joel Retornaz (7-4) locked up the other spot Friday with a 12-5 win over Japan’s Riku Yanagisawa.
The top two seeds will earn direct berths to the semifinals. The other playoff teams will play qualification games Saturday afternoon with spots in the final four on the line.
Medal games are scheduled for Sunday.
Gushue’s lone world title came in 2017 at Edmonton. Edin, the reigning Olympic champion, has won four straight world titles and six overall.
Kerri Einarson skipped Canada to a bronze medal at the women’s world curling championship last month in Sandviken, Sweden.
WATCH | Canada falls to Scotland:
Brad Gushue took his record to 7-2, after a convincing 9-4 victory over Germany at the world men’s curling championship in Ottawa.
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