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BEIJING -- Kevin Koes Calgary rink inched closer to a playoff spot at the mens world championship of curling, improving to 7-3 in the round-robin portion of the tournament with a 11-5 rout over Germany on Thursday. Koe took an early 9-1 lead through four ends and sailed home with the win over Germanys Johnny Jahr to assure at least a tiebreaker berth on the final day of round-robin play. The Canadians will complete the round robin with a game against Scotlands Ewan MacDonald (3-6) later Thursday. A win in that game would nail down, at worst, a berth in the Page 3-4 game. A victory, combined with a loss from Japans Yusuke Morozumi (7-3) would put Canada in the Page playoff 1-2 game against Norways Thomas Ulsrud. "Its good news," said Koe. "Weve come through the three-four game a few times with this team (including the 2010 Tim Hortons Brier and the 2014 Alberta mens championship). We just have to get in there. And once we get in there, thats usually when our best games show up. "Were pretty much down to our last life here, so we have to come out against a good Scotland team thats probably going to be playing pretty loose, and take care of business." Canada took control early on against Germany. Koe made a precision come-around tap to sit four and block off the path to the four-foot. German last-rock thrower Felix Schulze needed to make a hit-and-roll for a single, but he wrecked on a guard to give Canada a stolen four-ender. "That nice little hack-weight shot Kevin made in the second, that was good for his confidence," noted lead Nolan Thiessen. "Weve wrecked a few times on those, so to make one and really put the pressure on him to make a really good shot against four early in the game is good. "Youll get mistakes when that happens, and it got us a little bit of mojo and hopefully we can carry it over this afternoon." After Germany was forced to a single in the third, Canada put the victory away with Koe drawing for four in the fourth end. The Germans would cut into the lead with three in the fifth and one more in the sixth, but Canada scored two in the seventh to prompt handshakes. The Germans (4-6) are out of playoff contention. Norway locked up first place Thursday morning with a 6-4 win over Pete Fenson of the United States (3-7), while Sweden (6-4) took an 11-4 win over Japan. A Japanese victory would have all but locked up a spot in the one-two game. In the other game, Russias Evgeny Arkhipov (2-8) took two in the 10th end for a 6-5 win over Denmarks Rasmus Stjerne (2-8). Rod Brind Amour Jersey .C. United have acquired midfielder Alex Caskey from the Seattle Sounders for a third-round pick in the 2016 MLS draft. Custom Carolina Hurricanes Jerseys . The appointment of Boullier continues the behind-the-scenes restructuring at McLaren, who recently brought back former team principal Ron Dennis as its new chief executive. http://www.hurricanessale.com/authentic-...ricanes-jersey/. Strasburg (1-1) got 14 consecutive outs in one stretch and allowed only three hits, including Marcell Ozunas homer in the seventh. The right-handers lone walk was to the last batter he faced. Washingtons starter Wednesday, Jordan Zimmermann, left after a career-low 1 2-3 innings, leaving the bullpen "taxed," as manager Matt Williams put it. Carolina Hurricanes Jerseys . - Nikita Jevpalovs scored 6:22 into the second overtime as the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada edged the visiting Rimouski Oceanic 2-1 on Tuesday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League playoff action. BRISBANE, Australia -- Roger Federer showed shreds of Stefan Edbergs influence as he got his 2014 season underway, advancing to the Brisbane International quarterfinals with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Jarkko Nieminen on Wednesday. Federer worked briefly with Edberg in the off-season and will again use the six-time major winner as a coach in Melbourne as he tries to end his Grand Slam drought at the Australian Open this month. The 32-year-old Swiss star is not suddenly turning to a serve-volley mindset, but he did venture to the net with good effect in his second-round match against Nieminen as he honed certain parts of his game. "Ive been serving OK, my forehand is going well, my movement is OK, Im seeing the ball OK," said Federer, who won the last of his 17 Grand Slam titles at Wimbledon in 2012. "I expect to play a bit better in the next match, even though today was already very good for a first match in so many weeks." After a day of injury withdrawals in the womens draw, No. 2-ranked Victoria Azarenka finished off the night session with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Casey Dellacqua. The reigning two-time Australian Open champion followed Federers match on centre court. Federer, in the decisive game of the first set, rallied from 40-0 down and won the next five points to break for a 3-2 lead. He started with a pinpoint lob that caught the baseline and followed it up with a sharp, angled volley that turned the momentum. He broke serve twice in the first three games of the second set and cruised to a comfortable win. Awaiting top-seeded Federer in the quarterfinals is Australias Marinko Matosevic, who beat American Sam Querrey 5-7, 7-6 (3), 6-4. Second-seeded Kei Nishikori of Japan had a 6-2, 6-2 win over Matthew Ebden to set up a quarterfinal against Marin Cilic of Croatia. Cilic, in his second tournament following a four-month doping ban, had a 7-5, 7-5 win over fifth-seeded Grigor Dimitrov, a Brisbane finalist last year. Cilic, who reached a career-high No. 9 in 2010 but finished last season at No. 37, said playing again "feels like a new beginning for me." "Im thinking about everything around myself in a different perspective," he said.dddddddddddd "Im excited to be in the season and to play, to be back on the tour after all that misery last year." Azarenkas match was the only womens second-rounder to go the distance Wednesday. Shell next play Stefanie Voegele of Switzerland, who advanced when Wimbledon finalist Sabine Lisicki forfeited due to a stomach illness. Maria Sharapova got a walkover into the quarterfinals when Australian teenager Ashleigh Barty withdrew and fifth-seeded Angelique Kerber progressed when Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia retired in the second set with a left leg injury. Kerber was leading 6-2, 4-3 against last years runner-up. Caroline Wozniacki, who withdrew ahead of the Brisbane tournament after injuring her shoulder in practice, confirmed her engagement to golf star Rory McIlroy earlier Wednesday, posting photos of the couple and the ring on Twitter. It was no surprise to Azarenka, who said shed predicted the engagement last year at the Brisbane International. "Im really happy for her. If she will remember, I called it last year when I saw her in the locker room," Azarenka said. "I said, Youll be engaged by the end of the year. Technically, I was right. I even remember the spot in the locker room where I said that. Im a psychic!" In the Hopman Cup at Perth, France beat the United States 2-1 to stay unbeaten in its group. Sloane Stephens beat Alize Cornet 7-5, 6-0, but Jo-Wilfried Tsonga downed John Isner 7-6 (1), 6-3 and the French won the doubles tiebreaker 6-1, 5-7 (10-5). At Auckland, New Zealand, former world No. 1s Venus Williams and Ana Ivanovic moved closer to a semifinal meeting when they won second-round matches at the WTAs ASB Classic. Williams beat Yvonne Meusburger of Austria 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 and second-seeded Ivanovic defeated Johanna Larsen of Sweden 6-1, 6-1. After beating top-seeded Roberta Vinci on Tuesday, 16-year-old Croatias Ana Konjuh was beaten 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 by American Lauren Davis, who will play fifth-seeded compatriot Jamie Hampton in the quarterfinals. ' ' '