Five skips who could win their first Grand Slam title this season

There’s always something special about seeing someone win their first Grand Slam of Curling title.

Eun-ji Gim and her South Korean team captured their first last season at the KIOTI National after going undefeated through the event in Pictou County, N.S.

Joël Retornaz and his Italian team joined the club the year before when they claimed the WFG Masters in Oakville, Ont. That opened the door as Retornaz is now a four-time Grand Slam champion.

Will we see a first-time winner this season? Here are five candidates:

ROSS WHYTE

Ross Whyte and his squad came close last season losing 3-2 to Retornaz in the WFG Masters men’s final. It was the first Grand Slam final for Whyte, who went on a sensational run on the penultimate day of the tournament. Whyte edged Niklas Edin 5-3 in a tiebreaker to advance to the playoffs then eliminated Brad Gushue 5-2 in the quarterfinals and Yannick Schwaller 9-4 in the semifinals. All in a day’s work.

The reigning Scottish champion qualified for the playoffs in all five Grand Slam events last season and that consistency makes Team Whyte the leading candidate to take the next step.

Whyte, ranked seventh in the world, reached the semifinals at the KIOTI National this season.

YANNICK SCHWALLER

Yannick Schwaller is also a one-time finalist and was close to capturing the 2023 Players’ Championship until his team got Koe’d in the men’s final. Schwaller was up by two points in the eighth end, however, Kevin Koe held the hammer and pulled off an unreal shot at the buzzer to score three and win 5-4.

The reigning Swiss champions qualified for the playoffs in eight straight Grand Slam appearances until missing the cut in the Players’ Championship to finish last season.

Schwaller, ranked second in the world, was off to a hot run this season winning the Stu Sells Oakville Tankard and AMJ Campbell Shorty Jenkins Classic back-to-back in September.

While Schwaller seeks his first Grand Slam title, sharp-shooting Benoît Schwarz-van Berkel, who throws fourth on the team, won the Canadian Open in 2018 with skip Peter de Cruz.

EUN-JUNG KIM

Eun-jung Kim and her South Korean team competed in the Tier 2 division of the HearingLife Tour Challenge last season. After winning that event and climbing back into the top flight, Kim looks poised to capture a major championship in the series.

Kim has reached the semifinals at the past two Grand Slam events.

The 2018 Olympic silver medallist Kim is ranked sixth in the women’s division.

STEFANIA CONSTANTINI

Retornaz proved in the men’s division it’s possible for an Italian team to rise to the top. Stefania Constantini could follow suit in the women’s division.

Team Constantini earned silver at the European Championship last season and just missed the podium at the worlds losing to South Korea (Team Gim) in the bronze-medal game.

Constantini is ranked eighth in the women’s division.

XENIA SCHWALLER

We’re going double Schwaller on this list. Yannick’s cousin Xenia Schwaller made her Grand Slam of Curling debut in April at the Players’ Championship following a banner season winning four tour events plus the gold medal at the world junior championship.

Yes, the team is young and only has one Grand Slam tournament under their belts, but they’re also ranked No. 11 in the world and added another tour title this month at the Stu Sells Oakville Tankard.

We’ve seen teams hot on tour pull off unpredictable Grand Slam wins before — see Team Casey Scheidegger at the 2017 Canadian Open or Team Bruce Mouat at the 2017 National — and this Team Schwaller could be the next one to ride the wave.