Gangneung's Team Kim Eun-jung (Photo: Team Kim) are back-to-back champions of the Stu Sells Toronto Tankard, taking down world number two ranked Silvana Tirinzoni in the final. By: Cameron Sallaj The Gangneung City Hall curling team of Kim Eun-jung, Kim Kyeong-ae, Kim Cho-hi, Kim Seon-yeong and Kim Yeong-mi capped off a perfect weekend at the Stu Sells Toronto Tankard with an upset victory over four-time world champion Silvana Tirinzoni in the championship game. With an all international final four, Tirinzoni and Kim advanced to the final with semifinal victories over Isabella Wrana and Xenia Schwaller respectively, setting up a rematch of the 2022 world championship final in the championship game. Starting with the hammer, it was Team Kim who were forced to one to begin the game following a successful pick by Alina Patz on her final rock. The Korean rink then stole a single in the second to increase their lead to 2-0. In the third, Alina Patz misfired with her final stone, failing to reach the four-foot with her final draw. This gave the world number five ranked Team Kim a steal of two and a commanding 4-0 lead after three. In four, the Swiss were able to wrestle back a deuce, cutting into the lead by two. This didn't last for long, however, as with her final rock of the fifth, Korean skip Kim Eun-jung navigated a tight port to remove the Tirinzoni shot stone and pick up three more, extending her teams lead to 7-2. Facing three more Korean counters with her last rock in six, Alina Patz made sure of one for her team before conceding, giving Team Kim their first tour victory of the 2024-25 season. Stu Sells Toronto Tankard - Final - Silvana Tirinzoni vs Kim Eun-jung: The final game of the women's event was a showdown between the 2022 and 2023 champions of the Stu Sells Toronto Tankard. The Swiss team previously lifted the trophy in 2022 while the Korean side were victorious in 2023. The 2023 title also began Team Kim's dominant run throughout the 2023-24 season where they went on to claim two more titles and finish the season ranked 7th in the world. With the win, the Kim rink won $10,000 CDN, along with 45.000 ranking points, allowing them to leapfrog Kerri Einarson to reclaim their 5th place position in the world. After not playing during the second half of the 2022-23 season, the team has fought back into the top ranks of the world where they once were back in 2018 following their historic silver medal performance at the 2018 Winter Olympics. For second place, Team Tirinzoni won $7,000 along with 33.000 points. They remain in a firm second place in the world right behind Ottawa's Rachel Homan who beat them in the world championship final last season. Of note, the front end of Carole Howald and Selina Witschonke switched positions this weekend with Tirinzoni saying "just curious how it feels like and then we're going to make a final decision after that. Just a good tournament to try things out." As mentioned, Sweden's Isabella Wrana and Switzerland's Xenia Schwaller were both defeated in the semifinal round, earning $4,500 and 25.500 points for their finishes. Quarterfinalists, taking home $3,000 and 18.000 points included Krysta Burns, Anna Hasselborg, Krista McCarville and Emma Artichuk. Team Kim Eun-jung finished 3-0 in the 24-team qualifying round at the Stu Sells Toronto Tankard. After opening with a 6-3 win over Breanna Rozon (Oshawa, ON), the Korean team shutout Krista McCarville (Thunder Bay, NO) 8-0 before doubling up on Isabella Wrana (Sundbyberg, SWE) in the A qualifier game. In the playoffs, Team Kim again beat Team McCarville 8-1 in the quarterfinals before clipping Xenia Schwaller (Zurich, SUI) 5-4 in the semifinals. Stu Sells Toronto Tankard - Semifinal - Kim Eun-jung vs Xenia Schwaller: Stu Sells Toronto Tankard - Quarterfinal - Kim Eun-jung vs Krista McCarville: |