McCarville wins with new teammate Kelly while Tirinzoni continues dominance

One of the biggest lineup alterations this off-season came in Thunder Bay when Krista McCarville added 11-time New Brunswick champion Andrea Kelly to her team in an effort to get over the hump at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.

McCarville's foursome turned into a five-player team as Kendra Lilly, Ashley Sippala and Sarah Potts all remained with the squad.

Kelly's addition seems to have worked so far as Team McCarville captured the KW Fall Classic on Sunday in the first bonspiel with their new teammate.

Sporting sharp looking jerseys, McCarville, Kelly, Lilly and Sippala posted an overall record of 6-1 with wins over Team Susan Froud in the quarterfinal, Team Seungyoun Ha in the semifinal and Team Rebecca Morrison in the championship game, 7-3.

Team McCarville have made numerous playoff runs at the Scotties over the years, but have never been able to take home the national championship, losing in the final in 2016 and 2022.

Isabelle Ladouceur and Hollie Duncan, who will both compete at next week's PointsBet Invitational in Oakville, Ont., lost in the quarters.

On the men's side it was Toronto's Team Alex Champ downing Team Yves Stocker of Switzerland, 6-5, in the final.

Four-time Quebec champ Felix Asselin made it to the semis, losing to Stocker.

Tirinzoni continues to roll

Silvana Tirinzoni has led Switzerland to four consecutive gold medal victories at the World Women's Curling Championship and kicked off her 2023-24 season with a win at the Women's Masters Basel against some of the best international rinks in curling.

Aarau's Team Tirinzoni went a perfect 7-0 at the Basel bonspiel, beating the likes of Norway's Team Marianne Roervik in the quarterfinal, Denmark's Team Madeleine Dupont in the semifinal and finally Sweden's Team Anna Hasselborg in the gold-medal game by a score of 9-2.

The final lasted only five ends after Tirinzoni's rink put up a five-spot in the fifth.

Hasselborg's path to the final included wins over Sweden's Team Isabella Wrana in the quarterfinal and Italy's Team Stefania Constantini in the semifinal.

At last year's Women's World Curling Championship in Sandviken, Sweden, Tirinzoni and company topped Hasselborg in the semis before defeating Team Roervik in the final, 6-3, for their fourth straight world title.

Tirinzoni, 44, led her side to an undefeated record at the women's worlds in 2023 and has won 36 straight games at the tournament, with her last loss coming to Sweden inside the Calgary bubble in 2021.

Overall the Swiss have won eight of the last 11 World Women's Curling Championships.

Tirinzoni, fourth Alina Pätz and second Carole Howald have a new lead this season after 24-year-old Selina Witschonke replaced Briar Schwaller-Hürlimann at the end of the 2022-23 campaign.

Mother Club Fall Curling Classic 

The American rink led by Delaney Strouse defeated Team Jolene Campbell, 6-1, to capture the Mother Club Fall Curling Classic in Winnipeg for their second event victory of the young season.

Nancy Martin and Kate Cameron will play the PointsBet next week and both were ousted in the semifinal round.

On the men's side, it was Japan's Team Takumi Maeda downing Winnipeg's Team Jordon McDonald in the final, 7-3.

Sluchinski Wins Again

Aaron Sluchinski and his crew from Airdrie, Alta., continued their hot start to the 2023-24 season on Monday by winning the Alberta Curling Series Major bonspiel with a 7-5 win over Germany's Team Benny Kapp in the final.

Sluchinski, third Jeremy Harty, second Kerr Drummond and lead Dylan Webster have now won two events this season after capturing the Alberta Tour Kickoff in the late August.

Team Sluchinski, who won all four of their games at the Beaumont Curling Club over the five-day event, finished a solid seventh on the CTRS last season.

Sluchinski's strong play to start the season should only help next week when they compete at the PointsBet Invitational. They'll be the seventh seed and take on No. 10 Team Mike McEwen.