News Tour Challenge

NIAGARA FALLS, Ont. — Defending champions Team Niklas Edin of Sweden improved to a 1-1 record in the HearingLife Tour Challenge.

Edin earned his first win of the Grand Slam of Curling tournament with a 9-4 victory over Team John Shuster of the United States during the fifth round-robin draw Wednesday morning at the Gale Centre.

Tied 4-4 after five ends, Edin split the rings to score a deuce in the sixth and stole three points in the seventh when Shuster came up light on a draw.

Shuster, who beat Edin in the gold medal game at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games, is also level with a 1-1 record.

Team Edin won the HearingLife Tour Challenge last season in Grande Prairie, Alta., without their skip. Edin injured his knee during warmups for the semifinals and third Oskar Eriksson took the reins from there.

Elsewhere, Team Ross Whyte topped Team Bruce Mouat 6-3 in a Scottish derby. Whyte climbed to a 2-0 record while Mouat slipped to 0-2.

Team Joel Retornaz of Italy also moved up to 2-0 following a 4-2 win over Winnipeg’s Team Reid Carruthers (0-2).

Team Riku Yanagisawa of Japan earned their first-ever win in the Grand Slam of Curling after defeating Calgary’s Team Kevin Koe 6-5. Both teams hold 1-1 records.

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HEARINGLIFE TOUR CHALLENGE: Scores/Standings | Draw Schedule | Broadcast Schedule

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TIER 2: DRAW 5 RESULTS

• Team Sayaka Yoshimura 6, Team Michele Jäggi 4

• Team Danielle Inglis 6, Team Delaney Strouse 5

• Team Jessie Hunkin 8, Team Christina Black 6

• Team Kayla Skrlik 9, Team Sarah Anderson 3

UP NEXT

The HearingLife Tour Challenge continues with Draw 6 at 11:30 a.m. local time. Ticket information is available at thegrandslamofcurling.com/tickets.

Broadcast coverage begins with Draw 10 Thursday at 11:30 a.m. ET / 8:30 a.m. PT on Sportsnet and streaming online at Sportsnet+ (Canada) and Yare (international).

NOTES

The HearingLife Tour Challenge is the first Grand Slam of Curling event of the season with 32 men’s teams and 32 women’s teams in two tiers of action. Tier 1 features the top teams from around the world while Tier 2 features the next group of teams looking to move up the rankings into the top flight. … Round-robin play runs through to Friday with the top eight teams in each division qualifying for the playoffs. … The quarterfinals and semifinals are scheduled for Saturday with the finals set for Sunday.