Francis Bouffard from Unsplash
The Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling took place at Oakville’s Sixteen-Mile Sports Complex from Nov. 18 to Nov. 24 and the competition featured competitors from all over the world including such famous Canadian Icons like Brad Gushue, Kevin Koe, and Jennifer Jones.
The event had 80 games played over the seven days, featuring 40 games in the women’s division and 40 games from the men’s division.
In the Women’s division, a major storyline coming into the event is Jennifer Jones and her team. Jones has won Olympic gold medals for Canada and competed in multiple big curling competitions and is now at 47 years of age near the end of her curling journey.
Jones’ team had a rocky start as they lost their first match to team Peterson of Sweden and Team Solna also from Sweden which put her team in event C. Jones’ team won their next three matches in event C and went to the playoff round.
Jones’ team won their first playoff game against Team Trinzoni of Switzerland 6-4 and won their second playoff match against Team E. Kim of South Korea 9-3 putting Team Jones in the final to face fellow Canadian Team Fleury of Manitoba.
Jones’ team came up short in the final losing to Team Fleury 9-7 making Team Fleury the winners of the Women’s division.
On the men’s side, the big storyline in Canada was how well both Gushue and Koe’s teams performed in the tournament.
Both teams were placed in event A as premier teams in the tournament and both did well in the knockout rounds.
Each won their first two games and found themselves playing against each other at the end of the knockout round.
Gushue got the best of Koe as his team won 6-2.
Koe’s struggles continued into the playoffs as his team lost 5-4 in the playoff round against fellow Canadian Brad Jacobs and his squad from Ontario.
Veteran Kevin Koe and his squad shocked players and fans as they took an early exit from the tournament.
Brad Gushue’s squad had a little more success than Koe’s as they beat Team Matsumara of Japan in the first playoff game.
That, unfortunately, would be the end of their success as they also lost to Team Jacobs and were eliminated from the tournament.
Team Jacobs found themselves in the finals against Team Mouat of Scotland
Team Mouat and Team Jacobs squared off in a very close and tight final that ended up being won by Team Mouat and his Scottish squad, capturing their third straight Grand Slam title.
An end to a very successful and exciting tournament.
