Team Selena Sturmay’s strong start to the 2026-27 curling season continued on Monday night with a victory at the Saville Grand Prix in their hometown of Edmonton.
The reigning Alberta women’s curling champions defeated South Korea’s Team Youbeen Park in the final, 6-4, to cap a perfect 7-0 bonspiel.
Team Sturmay won all four games in the round robin before topping Saskatchewan’s Team Ashley Olson in the quarterfinal and world No. 3 Team Eunji Gim of South Korea in the semi-final to advance to their third straight final to start the season.
The rink out of the Saville Community Sports Centre won the Asham Icebreaker in August to open their season and made the final of last week’s Saville Shootout, losing to Alberta rival Team Serena Gray-Withers.
At the Saville Grand Prix, Team Gray-Withers won their first five games before dropping the semi-final to Team Park.
Led by their 28-year-old skip, Team Sturmay, featuring third Danielle Schmiemann, second Dezaray Hawes and lead Paige Papley, were one of the few top teams in Canada to stick together following the completion of the Olympic quadrennial last year.
Team Sturmay have been to three straight Scotties Tournament of Hearts, finishing third at last year’s event in Mississauga, Ont., after falling to eventual champion Team Kerri Einarson in the semi-final.
Team Hiebert breaks out with first WCT win
On the men’s side of the draw at the Saville Grand Prix, Team Jaxon Hiebert and his young Edmonton-based rink topped Team Evan Van Amsterdam, 9-5, in the final on Monday.
Led by their 20-year-old skip, Team Hiebert recorded deuces in back-to-back ends in the third and fourth, before putting up a three-spot with hammer in the eighth to seal the victory.
It marks the first career win on the World Curling Tour for the young foursome of Hiebert, third Noah Mason-Wood, second Nate Burton and lead Braeden Hein.
Team Hiebert went 3-1 in pool play to qualify for the playoffs where they eliminated veteran skip Mike McEwen and his new Saskatchewan-based rink in the quarters before ousting Team Wouter Gosgnes of the Netherlands in the semis.
Hiebert and company, ranked 67th in the world, finished fifth at the Saville Shootout in their first event of the season earlier this month.
