Gushue tops Carruthers in opening draw at Grand Slam of Curling's Canadian Open

Brad Gushue defeated Reid Carruthers 6-1 on Tuesday morning in a matchup of Canadian skips at the Co-op Canadian Open in Nisku, Alta.

Gushue, from St. John's, 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.

Three more draws were scheduled for later in the day at the Silent Ice Centre.

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 quarterfinals on Saturday. The finals are scheduled for Sunday.