Fleury and reigning national champ Einarson post victories at the Masters

OAKVILLE, Ont. – Tracy Fleury defeated Japan’s Tori Koana 6-5 and reigning Canadian champion Kerri Einarson beat Japan’s Satsuki Fujisawa 8-5 on Thursday morning at the Masters.

Koana scored singles in each of the last three ends but couldn’t pull even with Fleury, who advanced to Friday’s B-bracket final of the triple-knockout draw.

Fleury, from East St. Paul, Man., will next face Einarson, from Gimli, Man., for a berth in the weekend playoffs at the season-opening Grand Slam of Curling event. The loser will fall into the C-bracket.

In other early games, Sweden’s Anna Hasselborg edged Edmonton’s Kelsey Rocque 6-5 and South Korea’s Hye Rin Kim dropped a 10-4 decision to Sweden’s Isabella Wrana.

In evening play at the Sixteen Mile Sports Complex, Brad Gushue of St. John’s, N.L., took a 6-2 win over Calgary’s Kevin Koe and Scotland’s Bruce Mouat beat Brendan Bottcher of Edmonton 7-4.

The finals are scheduled on Sunday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2021.