Rocque tops Duncan to secure quarter-final berth at Grand Slam of Curling’s National | CBC Sports

Isabella Wrana and Anna Hasselborg, both from Sweden, also reached the quarter-finals with Draw 14 victories. Wrana beat Winnipeg’s Jennifer Jones 7-4 and Hasselborg posted an 8-4 win over Corryn Brown of Kamloops, B.C.

Ottawa’s Rachel Homan avoided elimination in the triple-knockout event with a 4-3 win over South Korea’s Min-Ji Kim. Duncan, Jones and Brown joined Homan in the C-bracket of the women’s draw.

In the morning games, Laura Walker scored a single in the eighth end for a 6-5 win over Kerri Einarson. A measurement on Walker’s final stone confirmed the victory.

Her Edmonton-based team stayed alive in the C-bracket while Einarson’s rink from Gimli, Man., was eliminated.

In men’s play, Winnipeg’s Mike McEwen shaded Brad Jacobs of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., 4-3 in an extra end. Yannick Schwaller of Switzerland edged Winnipeg’s Jason Gunnlaugson 7-6 and Russia’s Alina Kovaleva defeated Japan’s Satsuki Fujisawa 6-3.

Jacobs, Gunnlaugson and Fujisawa were eliminated.

Two more draws were scheduled for later Friday. Competition continues through Sunday.

Gushue, Fleury in quarter-finals

Brad Gushue and Tracy Fleury made it into the quarter-finals of the Grand Slam of Curling’s National event on Thursday.

Gushue, a three-time Canadian men’s champion from St. John’s, N.L., scored three in the first end en route to an 8-6 win over Scotland’s Bruce Mouat to get to a record of 3-0.

Five-time world champion Niklas Edin of Sweden and Switzerland’s Silvana Tirinzoni also remained unbeaten to join the Canadians in the playoffs of the $300,000, 32-team event.

Edin downed Switzlerland’s Peter de Cruz 7-3 and Tirinzoni topped Sweden’s Anna Hasselborg 5-4 at the Chestermere Recreation Centre.

Teams must win three games to make the playoffs. Each loss drops a team to a lower bracket in a triple knockout format.