GUSHUE SUFFERS HIS FIRST LOSS AT MEN’S CURLING WORLDS
Italy’s Joel Retornaz drew the four-foot ring in an extra end for a 7-6 victory over Canada’s Brad Gushue on Monday at the world men’s curling championship in Switzerland.
It was the first round robin loss for the veteran skip from St. John’s, N.L., and his team of Mark Nichols, E.J. Harnden and Geoff Walker.
Canada will play New Zealand and the United States on Tuesday.
The Canadians shot 90 per cent on the day and forced the extra end with a deuce in the 10th. Italy shot 87 per cent overall.
Both teams were in a four-way tie at 3-1 behind Sweden’s Niklas Edin (5-0) and defending champion Bruce Mouat of Scotland (41).
Round robin play continues through Friday night and medal games are scheduled for Sunday.
Utah Jazz general manager Justin Zanik is set to have a kidney transplant Tuesday at the University of Utah hospital.
Zanik will receive a donor kidney after being diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease in October.
Polycystic kidney disease is a genetic disorder that causes clusters of cysts to grow within kidneys.
The surgery is expected to take from 2½ to three hours. Zanik is scheduled to be discharged three days after the surgery, barring complications. He will then be cleared to return to his NBA duties after three weeks and plans to resume a full-time workload in six weeks.
“I’m not out of the business,” Zanik said. “I’m basically taking a rest for about three to six weeks and then I’ll be back. I’ll be on the phone. I’ll be running the draft and I’ll be running the team, trying to make us better, and I’m excited about it.”