Yannick Schwaller, hailing from Geneva, Switzerland, secured his spot in the final of the HearingLife Canadian Open in Saskatoon by defeating John Shuster from Duluth, Minnesota, with a 7-5 victory on Saturday evening. Schwaller, after a prior 7-1 win against Marc Muskatewitz of Germany in the quarterfinals earlier on Saturday, took an early lead by scoring three points in the first end against Shuster. Although Shuster managed to tie the game 4-4 after five ends by scoring a deuce in the fourth and stealing one in the fifth, Schwaller regained control by scoring two points in the sixth, limiting Shuster to a single in the seventh, and securing another point in the eighth to win the match at Merlis Belsher Place.
In the upcoming final, Schwaller will face Ross Whyte, who defeated Bruce Mouat 6-4 in a semifinal matchup between two Scottish teams. Whyte, trailing 4-2 after six ends against Mouat, managed to tie the game 4-4 with a deuce in the seventh and then clinched the victory by stealing two points in the eighth.
On the women’s side, Japan’s Satsuki Fujisawa advanced to the final by defeating Momoha Tabata 7-5, following her earlier victory over defending champion Rachel Homan in the quarterfinals. Despite trailing 4-1 after four ends, Fujisawa staged a comeback by scoring three in the fifth, taking the lead 6-4 with a steal of two in the sixth end, and maintaining her advantage throughout the match. She is set to compete against Silvana Tirinzoni of Switzerland in the final, who secured her place with a 5-4 win over Sayaka Yoshimura of Japan in the semifinals.
Yoshimura had tied the game 4-4 with a deuce in the seventh, but Tirinzoni sealed the victory by scoring one point with the hammer. Earlier in the quarterfinals, Yoshimura overcame Kerri Einarson of Gimli, Manitoba, with a 9-6 win.