Canada's Kaitlyn Lawes defeated Japan's Ikue Kitazawa 6-4 on Wednesday at the Grand Slam of Curling's Co-op Canadian Open in Nisku, Alta.

Lawes, from Winnipeg, led by three at the game's midway point and iced the win with a single in the eighth end.

In other early games, Xenia Schwaller edged Silvana Tirinzoni 6-5 in an all-Swiss battle, Italy's Stefania Constantini beat South Korea's Seung-youn Ha 7-3 and Japan's Satsuki Fujisawa dumped South Korea's Eun-ji Gim 8-2.

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

The playoffs start Saturday and the finals are set for Sunday at the Grand Slam of Curling event.

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.