Hints on Grand Slam curling future
The jewel in the Grand Slam of Curling crown was recently displayed in Toronto, and the shine is back.
As in recent years, a strong slate of international competitors led the way at the Players’ Championship with just four Canadian teams—skipped by Kerri Einarson, Brad Gushue, Matt Dunstone and Kevin Koe—among the 12 playoff squads.
Sweden’s Isabella Wranå captured her first Slam title with a 6-5 victory over repeat world women’s champion Silvana Tirinzoni of Switzerland.
Koe’s Alberta crew gave a flashy farewell to Brad Thiessen in the men’s final. Koe made another of his big takeouts—splashing three Swiss stones belonging to world bronze medallist Yannick Schwaller—and Thiessen made an effort to jump into the historic ceiling of the Mattamy Athletic Centre.
The 2021 Brier champion is pausing his on-ice career to focus on his family.
The women’s semifinalists were Einarson and Korea’s Gim Un-Chi, while quarterfinal cash went to Japan’s Satsuki Fujisawa and USA’s Tabitha Peterson.
On the men’s side, Gushue and Italy’s Joel Retornaz made the semis while Dunstone and Sweden’s Niklas Edin qualified for the quarterfinals.
Einarson and Gushue also captured the Pinty’s Cup, the total points title encompassing the first five Grand Slam events.
Gushue actually tied with Niklas Edin at 46 points, but earned the men’s Cup by way of his higher finish at the Players’ Championship.
The Einarson and Gushue squads each cashed $75,000 for their Cup titles.
It’s been almost four years since a full Slam season was contested and with one event still to come—the Champions Cup at Regina in early May—series owner Sportsnet published a story aimed at the future.
The media company’s vice president of Sportsnet and NHL productions, Rob Corte, hinted at a renewed effort at international expansion.
“We were slated to do our first event in the United States in (Las) Vegas but due to the pandemic, we had to cancel that,” said Corte.
“That interest and that positive momentum have come back really quickly since we started playing back like we used to. We’ve had a lot of positive discussions over the last couple of years with numerous international opportunities.
“We’re looking to push forward in the years coming and start to expand and take advantage of that international interest.”
Corte said the series is pausing the Champions Cup, which takes next season’s event calendar—the 12th under Sportsnet ownership—back to five events.
Before the Elite 10 was dropped after the 2016-17 season, there were seven events in the series.
Total prize money, which is equal between women’s and men’s competitors, will remain at $2.1 million next season with the purse from the Champions Cup distributed across the other tournaments.
“We’re going to take a step back for one year, go to five events, re-evaluate the whole Grand Slam calendar, consider a lot of these new opportunities that have come that will allow us to invest and grow the Grand Slam of Curling,” Corte added. “We’re going to come back stronger in the 2024-25 season.”
Longtime Sportsnet event managers Kristi Petrushchak and Jennifer Kjell were given the Curling Canada Award of Achievement in view of the cheering Slam competitors at Mattamy.
The pair have been responsible for all aspects of the series’ organization throughout Rogers’ stewardship, dating back to the previous series owner.
