The first ever Tour Challenge took place over the weekend in Paradise, NL with hometown favourite Brad Gushue being the centre of attention to kick off the Grand Slam season. The event featured two different tiers. 

 

Men's Tour

Tour Challenge Tier 1 in Paradise, NL (Sept 8-13)

Purse: $100, 000

In the men's final, Calgary's Kevin Koe needed an extra end to topple Brad Gushue 4-3.

Gushue, of St. John's, N.L., forced the extra end with a single in the eighth to tie the draw at 3-3. Neither skip led by more than one point, with Gushue opening the scoring with a single in the second end.

"For us, it's a big win. We were in a little trouble that game, but we made the big shots we needed at the right times, and it feels great," said Koe. "It's been an unbelievable event. One of the best Slams we've been a part of, so we're very fortunate."

Koe downed American John Shuster 9-2 in Saturday's semifinal, while Gushue defeated Winnipeg's Mike McEwen 5-3.

Koe went 3-1 through round robin play, with his only loss coming in his opening draw against Toronto's John Epping. He won six straight draws to capture the men's crown.

 

Tour Challenge Tier 2 in Paradise, NL (Sept 8-13)

Purse: $50, 000

Jim Cotter of Vernon, BC went undefeated (7-0) in the Tier 2 Challenge, capping it off with a 5-3 victory over Ontario's Mark Kean in the final. With the victory, Cotter and his rink of third Ryan Kuhn, second Tyrel Griffith and lead Rick Sawatsky get an automatic entry to the Masters in Truro, N.S.

 

Oakville OCT Fall Classic in Oakville, Ontario (Sept 10-13)

Purse: $12, 600

Codey Maus and his London, ON rink of lead Jeff Grant, second Wesley Forger and fourth Scott McDonanld beat Pat Ferris 7-3.

 

Women's Tour

Tour Challenge Tier 1 in Paradise, NL (Sept 8-13)

Purse: $100, 000

Rachel Homan couldn't extend her perfect run at the Grand Slam of Curling's Tour Challenge.

Switzerland's Silvana Tirinzoni scored two in the eighth end to edge the Ottawa skip 6-5 in the Tier 1 women's final on Sunday.

"I was working so hard to win a tournament like this, a Grand Slam. It was my dream for such a long time and I just can't believe we actually did it," said Tirinzoni. "We never play in front of such crowds. We feel so special to be here, so privileged. And to actually win against so many good teams is unbelievable."

Homan got out to an early 3-0 lead in the second end and was up 5-2 before Tirinzoni came back with deuces in the seventh and eighth ends to take the victory.

Homan went undefeated at the inaugural Grand Slam of Curling event until losing to Tirinzoni in the final. She posted a 4-0 round-robin record to top the leaderboard, downed Scotland's Eve Muirhead in the quarter-finals and beat EunJung Kim of South Korea in the semis.

Tirinzoni was playing in her first career Grand Slam of Curling final. She went 2-2 in the round-robin stage before beating Edmonton's Kelsey Rocque and Tracy Fleury of Sudbury, Ont., in the quarter-finals and semifinals, respectively.

 

Tour Challenge Tier 2 in Paradise, NL (Sept 8-13)

Purse: $50, 000

Winnipeg's Kerri Einarson will play at the Masters of Curling in October from Truro, N.S. after she topped Regina's Chantelle Eberle 8-2 in Tier 2 women's final. Skip Einarson, third Selena Kaatz, second Liz Fyfe, and lead Kristin MacCuish went a perfect 7-0 in the tournament. 

 

Oakville OCT Fall Classic in Oakville, Ontario (Sept 10-13)

Purse: $12, 600

Ontario's Jacqueline Harrison bettered provincial rival Mallory Kean in the final 5-2 Sunday. The 21-rink field included mostly teams from Ontario including Allison Flaxey who went 4-0 in the round robin, but fell to Kean in the quarters.

 

Looking Ahead

Men's Tour

Sept 17-20: AMJ Campbell Shorty Jenkins Classic from Brockville, ON

Defending Champion: Brad Jacobs of Sault Ste. Marie, ON

Sept 17-20: HDF Insurance Shoot-Out from Edmonton, AB

Defending Champion: Brendan Bottcher of Edmonton, AB

Sept 18-20: Cloverdale Cash Spiel from Surrey, BC

Defending Champion: Grant Dezura from Maple Ridge, BC

 

Women's Tour

Sept 17-20: AMJ Campbell Shorty Jenkins Classic from Brockville, ON

Defending Champion: Sherry Middaugh of Coldwater, ON

Sept 17-20: HDF Insurance Shoot-Out from Edmonton, AB

Defending Champion: Chelsea Carey of Edmonton, AB

Sept 18-20: Cloverdale Cash Spiel from Surrey, BC

Defending Champion: Sijia Liu from Harbin, China