Curling fans were thankful for a weekend full of curling across the globe this Thanksgiving as events on both the World Curling Tour and the Curling Champions Tour took place from Toronto all the way to Japan.

 

Men's Tour

StuSells Toronto Tankard from Toronto, ON (Oct 9-12) 

Purse: $53, 000

Winnipeg’s Mike McEwen picked up his second victory of the season, winning the Stu Sells Toronto Tankard. McEwen, along with third B.J. Neufeld, second Matt Wozniak and lead Denni Neufeld, lost just one game over the weekend and capped it off with a 5-1 victory over Glenn Howard in the final. This was Howard’s second final loss on the season. 

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McEwen beat Brad Gushue, 6-4, in the quarterfinals and then edged Mark Kean, 6-4, in the semifinals. The 29-team field featured teams from Canada, United States and Europe. Other notable names included Sweden’s Niklas Edin, who fell to Brad Jacobs in the quarters, 1-6. Jacobs and his Sault Ste. Marie rink would go on to lose to Howard, 1-4, in the semis. Last year’s champ, Winnipeg’s Reid Carruthers, was also eliminated by Team Howard, losing to the foursome, 3-9, in the quarterfinals.

Toronto’s John Epping (4-3), Charlottetown’s Adam Casey (3-3) and Nova Scotia’s Shawn Adams (2-3) all failed to make the playoff round.

Direct Horizontal Drilling Fall Classic from Edmonton, AB (Oct 9-12)

Purse: $50, 000

Calgary’s Kevin Koe beat provincial rival Brendan Bottcher, 4-2, in the final to defend his title at the Direct Horizontal Drilling Fall Classic. This marks the foursome’s second victory of the season after winning the inaugural Tour Challenge in Paradise, NL back in September.   

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Koe blanked Kevin Park in the quarters, 5-0, Saskatchewan’s Steve Laycock, 7-1, in semis and finally Bottcher in the championship game. The field included 24 rinks, mostly from Alberta. Korea’s Soo-Hyuk Kim, winner of two events season, lost three straight games and was quickly eliminated from the triple knockout tournament. 

St. Paul Cash Spiel from St. Paul, Minnesota (Oct 9-11)

Purse: $15, 550

Todd Birr of Minnesota beat Heath McCormick of New York, 6-2, in the final. The 47-year-old lost the first game of the tournament and then rallied off six consecutive victories for the championship. The 20-rink field features teams mostly from the United States. 

Minebea Cup from Miyota, Japan (Oct 10-12)

Purse: NA

Arihito Kasahara took care of Junpei Kanda, 5-1, in the final. The event featured an all Japanese field.

Bud Light Men's Cashspiel from Halifax, NS (Oct 9-12)

Purse: $5000

Halifax’s Stuart Thompson beat Jamie Danbrook, also of Halifax, 5-2, in the final. The 12-rink field featured teams all from Nova Scotia. 

 

Women's Tour

Curlers Corner Autumn Gold Curling Classic from Calgary, AB (Oct 9-12)

Purse: $50, 0000

Ottawa’s Rachel Homan won her third event of the season amongst an impressive field at the Curlers Corner Autumn Gold Curling Classic, beating Calgary’s Chelsea Carey, 9-3, in the finals. Homan, third Emma Miskew, second Joanne Courtney and lead Lisa Weagle beat Sudbury’s Tracy Fleury, 6-2, in the quarterfinals, Edmonton’s Kelsey Rocque, 7-4, in the semifinals and Carey in the finals.

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Team Homan lost two out of their first three games in the triple knockout tourney, but pulled together and went a perfect 6-0 the rest of the way. The foursome from the nation’s capital topped defending Scotties champion Jennifer Jones of Winnipeg, 8-3, in the round robin. Jones, who was trying to defend her title in Calgary, failed to make the playoff round. The Manitoba rink has yet to win an event this season on Tour.

The young group led by Rocque have now made three consecutive semifinals.

The large 32-rink field featured the likes of Edmonton’s Val Sweeting (lost to Carey, 3-5, in the semis), Calgary’s Shannon Kleibrink (lost to Sweeting, 3-5, in the quarters) Saskatoon’s Stefanie Lawton (failed to make playoffs) and Winnipeg’s Cathy Overton-Clapham (failed to make playoffs).

Womens Masters Basel from Basel, Switzerland (Oct 9-11)

Curling Champions Tour

Purse: $43, 279

Russia's Anna Sidorova went undefeated at the Curling Champions Tour's Womens Masters Basel, beating home-country favourite Silvana Tirinzoni, 7-6, in the final. The 24-year-old made a beautiful double-raise tap takeout to score three in the final end to win in dramatic fashion. Check out the great shot here.

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Sidorova, along with third Margarita Fomina, second Aleksandra Raeva and lead Alina Kovaleva beat Sweden's Anna Hasselborg in the quarters, 7-3, Eve Muirhead of Scotland, 5-4, in the semis and finally Tirinzoni in the championship game. The 24-rink field featured teams mostly from Europe. The rink led by Coldwater's Sherry Middaugh was the only Canadian rink. The 49-year-old finished with a 4-2 record and fell to Binia Feltscher, 4-6, in the quarters. Defending world champion Alina Paetz fell to Muirhead, 4-5, in the quarterfinals.

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St. Paul Cash Spiel from St. Paul, Minnesota (Oct 9-11)

Purse: $6000

Cory Christensen of Minnesota blanked Jamie Sinclair, 6-0, in the final. Christensen went undefeated over the weekend. The small 10-rink field featured teams from the United States.

New Scotland Clothing Ladies Cashspiel from Halifax, NS (Oct 9-12)

Purse: $4676

Seventeen-year-old Mary Fay beat Mary Mattatall, 8-1, in the final. The 12-rink field included six-time Scotties champ Colleen Jones, who fell to Fay, 6-7, in the semifinals. 

 

Looking Ahead

Men's Tour

Oct 16-19: Canad Inns Men's Classic from Portage la Prairie, MB

Defending Champion: Mike McEwen

Oct 16-19: Hub International Crown of Curling from Kamloops, BC

Defending Champion: Brent Pierce

Oct 15-18: Stroud Sleeman Cash Spiel from Stroud, ON

Defending Champion: Colin Dow

Oct 15-18: McKee Homes Fall Curling Classic from Airdrie, AB

Defending Champion: Aaron Sluchinski

 

Women's Tour

Oct 16-19: Hub International Crown of Curling from Kamloops, BC

Defending Champion: Ayumi Ogasawara

Oct 16-19: Atkins Curling Supplies Women's Classic from Winnipeg, MB

Defending Champion: Janet Harvey

Oct 15-18: Stroud Sleeman Cash Spiel from Stroud, ON

Defending Champion: Julie Hastings