 On the opening day of the BOOST National (Photo: Anil Mungal, GSOC), teams were put to the test as new lineups and returning squads hit the ice for the first Grand Slam event of the season. By: Cameron Sallaj The Pinty's Grand Slam of Curling kicked off its opening event of the 2022-23 season today at North Bay Memorial Gardens for the BOOST National. The event features the top sixteen men's and women's teams from around the world competing for a total purse of $300,000. Following the completion of the cross-pool round robin stage, the top eight teams on both sides will qualify for the playoff round. Each team plays one game a day until the knockout round begins on Saturday. In the opening draw Tuesday morning, the three-time reigning Canadian champions Team Kerri Einarson from Gimli, Man. put on a clinic, sweeping South Korea's Kim Eun-jung 10-1 in five ends. After taking an early four-point lead, the team, which also won the Champions Cup Grand Slam last season, stole six points in the fourth end, resulting in an early concession by the Koreans. Team Jennifer Jones were also big winners, taking three in the sixth end to solidify a 7-4 victory over Team Krista McCarville of Thunder Bay. Japan's Satsuki Fujisawa scored two threes and a deuce to down Ontario's Team Rachel Homan 9-3 while Sweden's Isabella Wrana swiped a pair of threes in the second half to cruise by Ontario's Hollie Duncan 9-4. Draw 2, the opening men's draw, saw the new Brendan Bottcher rink from Edmonton take one in the eighth end to escape Toronto's Team Mike McEwen 5-4. Team Bottcher took the lead with three points in the fourth end but were quickly matched with two by the McEwen rink in the sixth end to level the score. Team Brad Gushue also needed one in the eighth end to fend off Team Glenn Howard 7-6. The Kevin Koe rink from Calgary got down 4-1 early to Switzerland's Marco Hosli before rallying back with steals in the fifth, sixth and extra end to beat the Swiss rink 6-5. Team Colton Flasch also recorded a win in a 7-4 decision over Team Joel Retornaz of Italy. The second women's draw of the day saw Grand Slam rookies Team Raphaela Keiser score two in the seventh end, and then steal three in the eighth end to shock Winnipeg's Team Kaitlyn Lawes 8-5. In a match the Swiss team never led, they got down early to the experienced Grand Slam vets before rallying back in the second half to claim their first win of the event. Another Swiss team in Silvana Tirinzoni also continued to roll from their victory at the Stu Sells Toronto Tankard with a 9-2 thumping of Winnipeg's Team Chelsea Carey. The two other games saw the United States' Tabitha Peterson win 5-3 over Sweden's Team Anna Hasselborg while South Korea's Gim Eun-ji tripled the count on Germany's Daniela Jentsch 6-2. Draw 4, the final draw of the night, featured the PointsBet Invitational champions Team Reid Carruthers who picked up an opening game 6-5 win over Switzerland's Yannick Schwaller. The team, which curled 93% overall, took two in the fifth end and never allowed the Swiss another multiple score. To wrap up Tuesday's action, Sweden's Niklas Edin won 4-1 over Scotland's Bruce Mouat while Switzerland's Michael Brunner defeated the United States' Korey Dropkin 7-3. In the final game, which went to an extra end, Winnipeg's Team Matt Dunstone stole a single point to edge Scotland's Team Ross Whyte 5-4. The BOOST National continues all week long from the North Bay Memorial Gardens in North Bay, Ontario. The event is scheduled to begin broadcasts on Thursday at noon eastern time. SCORES, STANDINGS, and STREAMING LINKS on www.CurlingZone.com. |
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Brendan Bottcher (photo: Stan Fong) is moving on from now former teammates Marc Kennedy, Brett Gallant and Ben Hebert, announced Tuesday.
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