News National

CONCEPTION BAY SOUTH, N.L. — Scotland’s Team Eve Muirhead opened their pool play schedule Wednesday morning at the Boost National with a 6-5 win over Toronto’s Team Jacqueline Harrison.

Muirhead, who has won four Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling titles, scored all her points in the first half with a three-ender in the first followed by a deuce in the third and a single steal in the fourth.

Harrison, who was held to a point in the second, took two in the fifth and added back-to-back steals in six and seven to close within one but couldn’t complete the comeback.

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Meanwhile, Japan’s Team Sayaka Yoshimura toppled Team Tracy Fleury of East St. Paul, Man., 8-2 and Switzerland’s Team Silvana Tirinzoni beat Sweden’s Team Isabella Wrana 6-3.

In men’s action, Scotland’s Team Bruce Mouat opened their title defence with a 6-3 victory over Switzerland’s Team Peter de Cruz and Sweden’s Team Niklas Edin defeated Winnipeg’s Team Braden Calvert 7-5.

The Boost National is the fourth event and second major of the 2018-19 Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling season featuring 15 of the top men’s teams and 15 of the top women’s teams from around the world.

Both divisions are split into three pools for round-robin play with the top eight teams overall qualifying for Saturday’s quarterfinals. The semifinals are also set for Saturday with both finals taking place Sunday.

Round-robin play continues Wednesday at 12:30 p.m. local time.

Broadcast coverage begins Thursday at 11 a.m. ET / 8 a.m. PT on Sportsnet and streaming online at Sportsnet NOW (Canada) and Yare (international).

NOTES: Winners of the Boost National collect $30,000 of the $250,000 total purse plus berths to the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling season finale Humpty’s Champions Cup. … Points are also on the line for the Pinty’s Cup, which is awarded to the overall season champions following the conclusion of the Players’ Championship in April. … All games are played to eight ends with 33 minutes of thinking time plus two, 90-second timeouts. The five-rock rule is also in effect.