The opening tournament of the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling ended up with familiar faces on the top of the standings, with skips Brad Gushue of Canada and Anna Hasselborg of Sweden leading the winning teams once again.
Gushue, who skipped the 2006 Olympic champs for Canada, won a tense duel with Reid Caruthers’ rink, claiming points in the third and sixth ends and playing great defense, allowing only a score in the seventh end to win, +1.
Hasselborg (pictured), who skipped the PyeongChang Olympic winners last February, barely got through the semis with a +1 win over Canada’s Rachel Homan, then scored points in ends 3-4-5-6 to eliminate Swiss Silvana Tirinzoni in the final, +4. It was the first-ever Grand Slam of Curling win for a Swedish team, and worth $32,000 to the winners!
The next Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling event is the first major of the season, the Canadian Beef Masters, taking place 23-28 October in Truro, Nova Scotia. Summaries:
Grand Slam of Curling Elite 10
Chatham, Ontario (CAN) ~ 26-30 September 2018
(Full results here)
Men: 1. Brad Gushue (CAN); 2. Reid Caruthers (CAN); 3. John Epping (CAN) and Brad Jacobs (CAN). Semis: Caruthers d. Epping +1; Gughue d. Jacobs, +2. Final: Gushue d. Caruthers, +1.
Women: 1. Anna Hasselborg (SWE); 2. Silvana Tirinzoni (SUI); 3. Rachel Homan (CAN) and Jennifer Jones (CAN). Semis: Hasselborg d. Homan, +1; Tirinzoni d. Jones, +1. Final: Hasselborg d. Tirinzoni, +4
