Canada wins over South Korea at Grand Slam of Curling

PICTOU, N.S. –

Canada’s Kerri Einarson defeated South Korea’s Seungyoun Ha 7-1 on Wednesday morning at the Grand Slam of Curling’s Kioti National.

Einarson and her team from Gimli, Man., needed only five ends to complete the victory at the Pictou County Wellness Centre.

In other early games, Ottawa’s Rachel Homan posted a 7-1 win over Christina Black of Halifax and Sweden’s Anna Hasselborg beat Winnipeg’s Kaitlyn Lawes 6-3.

Sweden’s Isabella Wrana needed an extra end to complete a 7-6 victory over Winnipeg’s Kate Cameron.

On Wednesday afternoon, Winnipeg-based Jennifer Jones improved to 2-0 with a 6-3 win over Japan’s Satsuki Fujisawa.

Vancouver’s Clancy Grandy won 8-7 against Delaney Strouse of the United States to improve to 1-1, Eun-Ji Gim of South Korea beat Switzerland’s Silvana Tirinzoni 6-5 and Italy’s Stefania Constantini had a 6-2 victory over Tabitha Peterson of the United States.

In men’s play, Brad Gushue of St. John’s, N.L., the defending champion of the event, lost 6-3 to Sweden’s Niklas Eden to fall to 1-1 on Wednesday evening.

No. 1-ranked Brendan Bottcher and his crew from Calgary beat Winnipeg’s Matt Dunstone 7-2 to stay undefeated at 2-0.

Aaron Sluchinski of Airdrie, Alta., defeated John Shuster of the United States 6-4 to also improve to 2-0 and Scotland’s Ross Whyte beat Owen Purcell of Halifax 7-5 to round out the final draw of the day.

Reigning world champion Bruce Mouat of Scotland defeated Winnipeg’s Reid Carruthers 7-2 in the men’s afternoon draw.

Italy’s Joel Retornaz, who won the season-opening Grand Slam last month in Niagara Falls, Ont., won 6-3 versus Korey Dropkin of the United States.

Calgary’s Kevin Koe took care of business with a 7-3 win over Japan’s Riku Yanagisawa and Switzerland’s Yannick Schwaller needed an extra end to beat Scotland’s James Craik 7-6.

Play continues through Sunday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2023.