The Zardini Lacedelli and Retornaz teams reach the Oakville quarter-finals: Spiller and Zisa bow out

The triple-knockout format and an extremely tough run to the quarter-finals, reached by two of the four Italian teams competing in Oakville.

The international tournament on the ice in Ontario, the 2026 edition of the Stu Sells Oakville Tankard, sees the Zardini Lacedelli and Retornaz teams advance to the final stage, taking place entirely today.

In the women’s tournament, Giulia Zardini Lacedelli, Marta Lo Deserto, Elena Antonia Mathis and Rachele Scalesse managed to overcome the first hurdle despite finding themselves with a record of one win and two losses after also going down to Lloyd following their defeat by Middaugh: then came four consecutive victories, beating Rhyme 7-5, Principi 9-4, Team Henderson by a resounding 7-1 and Japan’s Team Ueno 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals, where today at 2:30 p.m. Italian time the Cortina-based team will face the Swiss side led by Xenia Schwaller.

In Oakville’s 32-team men’s draw, Team Retornaz managed to continue its run, despite first losing to Hoesli and then suffering a heavy 10-2 defeat to Casper; at that point, Joel Retornaz, Andrea and Stefano Gilli and Alberto Pimpini responded superbly, beating Team Young 10-8 and Team Epping 4-3, thus reaching today’s quarter-final against Scotland’s Team Waddell.

It was a red light for Team Trentino Spiller (with Cesare and Stefano Spiller, Amos Mosaner and Sebastian Arman), with a 4-3 record and the final matches of the opening stage seeing the newly formed Italian team beat Howard 9-4 before suffering a fatal narrow defeat, 6-5 in the extra end, to Hebert.

There was also no joy for Team Dolomiti Zisa, made up of Colli, Vigliani, De Zanna, Zisa and Giovanella, who were beaten 9-3 by Hebert and then edged out at the photo finish by Scott Dunnam and teammates, resulting in their elimination from the Canadian tournament.