Sweeting, Gushue to open Humpty’s Champions Cup
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 Grand Slam of Curling announced the full draw schedule Tuesday.
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.
Men’s Division
| Pool A | Pool B | Pool C |
|---|---|---|
| Greg Balsdon | Tom Brewster | Reid Carruthers |
| Niklas Edin | Brad Gushue | Peter de Cruz |
| John Epping | Steve Laycock | Grant Hardie |
| Kevin Koe | Mike McEwen | Brad Jacobs |
| John Shuster | Yusuke Morozumi | John Morris |
Women’s Division
| Pool A | Pool B | Pool C |
|---|---|---|
| Kerri Einarson | Allison Flaxey | Jacqueline Harrison |
| Rachel Homan | Jennifer Jones | Anna Hasselborg |
| Victoria Moiseeva | Eve Muirhead | Jamie Sinclair |
| Casey Scheidegger | Alina Paetz | Silvana Tirinzoni |
| Val Sweeting | Isabella Wrana | Bingyu Wang |
Note: In the event a team won two or more eligible tournaments, the next-ranked tour event winner (based on strength of field) was invited. World junior men’s champ Ki-Jeong Lee and Pacific-Asia women’s champ Eun-Jung Kim declined their invites.
