Brad Gushue defeated Reid Carruthers 6-1 on Tuesday morning in a matchup of Canadian skips at the Co-op Canadian Open.
Gushue, from St. John’s, N.L., scored three in the sixth end for the win over his Winnipeg-based opponent.
In other games, Italy’s Joel Retornaz dumped Calgary’s Kevin Koe 8-3, Sweden’s Niklas Edin topped Scotland’s James Craik 8-3 and Scotland’s Ross Whyte defeated Switzerland’s Michael Brunner 7-4.
In the opening women’s draw later Tuesday, Italy’s Stefania Constantini scored three in the fourth end en route to a 7-3 win over Winnipeg’s Kaitlyn Lawes.
In other results, Japan’s Satsuki Fujisawa edged Switzerland’s Xenia Schwaller 4-3, Eun-ji Gim defeated Seung-youn Ha in an all-South Korean matchup and Switzerland’s Silvana Tirinzoni defeated Japan’s Ikue Kitazawa 6-4.
In the third draw of the day Brad Jacobs of Calgary scored a deuce in the seventh end and held on to beat Matt Dunstone 4-2 of Winnipeg, while Mike McEwen of Saskatoon, Sask., scored back-to-back deuces in the fifth and sixth ends to roll pat John Shuster of Duluth, Minn., 9-3 at the Silent Ice Centre.
Isabella Wrana of Sundbyberg, Sweden, scored a deuce in the sixth end and stole singles in the seventh and eighth ends to edge Mi-Yeong Kim of South Korea 7-5 in the late draw, while Kerri Einarson of Gimli, Man., jumped out to a 5-0 lead after two ends and then coasted to a 9-3 win over Selenay Sturmay of Edmonton.
There are 16 teams in both the men’s and women’s fields. A round-robin format is used for each four-team pool along with one crossover game for each squad based on seeding.
The top eight teams in each draw will advance to the quarter-finals on Saturday. The finals are scheduled for Sunday.