It’s a clash of the champions to kick off the closing event of the 2016-17 Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling season.
Tour Challenge victor Val Sweeting of Edmonton faces Boost National winner Kerri Einarson of Winnipeg in the opening draw of the Humpty’s Champions Cup, which starts next Tuesday at WinSport Arena at Canada Olympic Park in Calgary.
The Pinty’s GSOC series announced the draw schedule Tuesday. Scroll down below for the full list of matches.
Sweeting added another trophy to her haul Sunday during the WestJet Players’ Championship by clinching the Rogers Grand Slam Cup as the season champion in the series.
The Humpty’s Champions Cup features 15 men’s teams and 15 women’s teams in one final showdown before the summer. Teams had to win a high-profile event over the course of the season in order to receive an invite.
Reigning world champ Brad Gushue of St. John’s, N.L., is also in action on opening night and goes up against Pacific-Asia winner Yusuke Morozumi of Japan.
Elsewhere, European Championship winner Victoria Moiseeva of Russia makes her Pinty’s GSOC series debut against Meridian Canadian Open champ Casey Scheidegger of Lethbridge, Alta.
Shorty Jenkins Classic winner Kevin Koe of Calgary kicks off his hometown tournament taking on Tour Challenge Tier 2 victor Greg Balsdon of Kingston, Ont.
WFG Masters champ Allison Flaxey of Caledon, Ont., meets world junior champion Isabella Wrana of Sweden. The 19-year-old Wrana will be playing in her first Pinty’s GSOC tournament and follows in the footsteps of her older brother Rasmus Wrana, who has won three titles in the series during his rookie season with Team Niklas Edin.
Each team plays four round-robin games with the top eight qualifying for the weekend playoffs. Tiebreaker games may be required to determine the final spot(s).
The Humpty’s Champions Cup is the newest of the seven events in the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling series. The inaugural tournament was held last season in Sherwood Park, Alta. Winnipeg teams reigned with Jennifer Jones defeating Ottawa’s Rachel Homan in a classic showdown for the women’s title and Reid Carruthers claiming the men’s trophy in a thrilling double extra end victory over Toronto’s John Epping.
Both will get the chance to defend their titles, however, Carruthers will not be competing as he’s off to represent Canada at the world mixed doubles championship with Team Homan’s Joanne Courtney. Third Braeden Moskowy will skip Team Carruthers at the Humpty’s Champions Cup with second Derek Samagalski and lead Colin Hodgson also moving up in the lineup. Alternate/adviser Craig Savill, a two-time world and 12-time Grand Slam champion, makes his debut with Team Carruthers at lead.
The Humpty’s Champions Cup runs April 25-30. If you can’t make it to Calgary, Sportsnet will have you covered starting April 27, click here for the TV schedule. Watch Sportsnet’s broadcast online at Sportsnet NOW (Canada) or gsoc.yaretv.com (international).
HUMPTY’S CHAMPIONS CUP SCHEDULE
| A | B | C | D | E | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 25 | ||||||
| 1 | 7:00 p.m. | Sweeting vs. Einarson |
Gushue vs. Morozumi |
Moiseeva vs. Scheidegger |
Koe vs. Balsdon |
Flaxey vs. Wrana |
| April 26 | ||||||
| 2 | 8:30 a.m. | Paetz vs. Muirhead |
Brewster vs. Laycock |
De Cruz vs. Hardie |
Hasselborg vs. Sinclair |
Tirinzoni vs. Wang |
| 3 | 12:30 p.m. | McEwen vs. Morozumi |
Homan vs. Scheidegger |
Edin vs. Shuster |
Jones vs. Wrana |
Einarson vs. Moiseeva |
| 4 | 4:00 p.m. | Epping vs. Koe |
Carruthers vs. Hardie |
Tirinzoni vs. Sinclair |
Harrison vs. Wang |
Jacobs vs. Morris |
| 5 | 7:30 p.m. | Balsdon vs. Shuster |
Flaxey vs. Muirhead |
Brewster vs. McEwen |
Gushue vs. Laycock |
Homan vs. Sweeting |
| April 27 | ||||||
| 6 | 8:30 a.m. | Sinclair vs. Wang |
Morris vs. De Cruz |
Hasselborg vs. Harrison |
Balsdon vs. Epping |
Paetz vs. Wrana |
| 7 | 12:30 p.m. | Hardie vs. Jacobs |
Moiseeva vs. Sweeting |
Einarson vs. Homan |
Brewster vs. Morozumi |
Jones vs. Muirhead |
| 8 | 4:00 p.m. | Carruthers vs. Morris |
Edin vs. Epping |
Koe vs. Shuster |
Paetz vs. Flaxey |
Harrison vs. Sinclair |
| 9 | 7:30 p.m. | Tirinzoni vs. Hasselborg |
Gushue vs. McEwen |
Sweeting vs. Scheidegger |
Jacobs vs. De Cruz |
Morozumi vs. Laycock |
| April 28 | ||||||
| 10 | 8:30 a.m. | Jones vs. Paetz |
Muirhead vs. Wrana |
|||
| 11 | 12:30 p.m. | Homan vs. Moiseeva |
Carruthers vs. De Cruz |
Gushue vs. Brewster |
Hasselborg vs. Wang |
Edin vs. Balsdon |
| 12 | 4:00 p.m. | Einarson vs. Scheidegger |
Tirinzoni vs. Homan |
Jones vs. Flaxey |
McEwen vs. Laycock |
Morris vs. Hardie |
| 13 | 7:30 p.m. | Carruthers vs. Jacobs |
Koe vs. Edin |
Epping vs. Shuster |
||
| April 29 | ||||||
| 14 | 8:30 a.m. | Tiebreakers (if necessary) |
||||
| 15 | 12:30 p.m. | Women’s Quarterfinals |
||||
| 16 | 4:00 p.m. | Men’s Quarterfinals |
||||
| 17 | 7:30 0.m. | Men’s & Women’s Semifinals |
||||
| April 30 | ||||||
| 18 | 10:00 a.m. | Women’s Final | ||||
| 19 | 2:00 p.m. | Men’s Final |
Note: In the event a team won two or more eligible tournaments, the next-ranked WCT/CCT winner based on strength of field was invited. World junior men’s champ Ki-jeong Lee and Pacific-Asia women’s champ EunJung Kim declined their invites.