Gushue tops Whyte to advance into men's Players' Championship semifinals

Brad Gushue pulled out a tight 6-5 win over Scotland's Ross Whyte to advance into the men's semifinal at the Grand Slam of Curling's season-ending Players' Championship on Saturday in Toronto.

Gushue's St. John's, N.L., rink was down 3-1 through three ends but tied it with a deuce in the fourth. The Canadians later took a 5-4 edge with another deuce in the sixth but were tied going into the eighth and final end, where they managed to put one on the board to win.

Italy's Joel Retornaz topped world men's champion Niklas Edin of Sweden 7-2 to also advance. Gushue will face Scotland's Bruce Mouat, while Retornaz faces Winnipeg's Mike McEwen later Saturday.

Switzerland's Silvana Tirinzoni also booked a semifinal ticket with a 6-3 win over South Korea's Kim Eunjung.

Tirinzoni will meet Ottawa's Rachel Homan, the reigning world champion, in a rematch of the world championship gold-medal game, while Gim takes on Sweden's Isabella Wrana later Saturday.

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