Gushue in a familiar position

Brad Gushue and his team of lead Geoff Walker, second Brett Gallant and third Mark Nichols carried a 3-0 record into Friday night’s game against Peter De Cruz of Switzerland at the Grand Slam of Curling Tour Challenge in Regina, Sask.

In a rematch of the Tim Hortons Brier final last spring, Gushue defeated Alberta’s Kevin Koe 8-4 Thursday night, scoring five in the fifth end to secure a playoff berth. Wednesday night, Gushue stopped John Shuster of the United States 6-1 after opening the event with an 8-1 trouncing of Ontario’s Glenn Howard Tuesday. Quarter-finals are set for this afternoon, with the semifinals tonight. The final goes 2 p.m. Sunday (NL time).