Rachel Homan and her Ottawa-based team will kick off the Canadian Beef Masters facing Tracy Fleury’s club from Winnipeg in the opening draw.
Rachel Homan shoots a stone during the Princess Auto Elite 10 semifinals on Sept. 29, 2018, in Chatham-Kent, Ont. (Anil Mungal)
The Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling has set the round-robin match schedule for its second event and first major of the 2018-19 season taking place Oct. 23-28 at Rath Eastlink Arena in Truro, N.S.
Homan is a three-time winner of the Canadian Beef Masters and captured the crown the previous time Truro hosted the event in 2015.
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Reigning world junior champion Kaitlyn Jones and her Halifax-based team [which includes PEI’s Lauren Lenentine at third stone] received a sponsor’s exemption and highlight the opening-round action taking on Silvana Tirinzoni’s Swiss squad.
American Jamie Sinclair, the winner of last season’s Players’ Championship, meets Japan’s Satsuki Fujisawa.
Six-time Masters men’s champion Glenn Howard of Penetanguishene, Ont., will also hit the ice for the opening draw against men’s sponsor exemption Jamie Murphy of Halifax.
Olympic gold medallist John Shuster of Duluth, Minn., rounds out the opener against Matt Dunstone’s team from Regina.
2018 Canadian Beef Masters: Draw Schedule
Event passes, weekend passes & single draw tickets available! Visit Ticketpro.ca or call 1-888-311-9090 to purchase.
The Canadian Beef Masters features 15 of the top men’s teams and 15 of the top women’s teams from around the world. Teams were invited based on the World Curling Tour’s Order of Merit rankings. The Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling reserved the right to invite a sponsor’s exemption for both divisions and implemented this rule for the Canadian Beef Masters awarding spots to Team Jamie Murphy and Team Kaitlyn Jones.
Both men’s and women’s divisions are split into three pools for round-robin competition. Teams play four round-robin games against the teams within their pools with the top eight overall on each side advancing to the playoffs.
Team Brad Gushue of St. John’s, N.L. [which includes PEI’s Brett Gallant], and Winnipeg’s Team Jennifer Jones enter the Canadian Beef Masters as the defending champions. Both clubs went undefeated through the event last season in Lloydminster, Sask.
Gushue is also coming off of a title victory to start the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling season at the Princess Auto Elite 10 last month in Chatham-Kent, Ont. Sweden’s Team Anna Hasselborg was also victorious claiming the historic inaugural women’s championship in the event.
The Canadian Beef Masters is one of the four original events in the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling, thus making it a major, and has been held every season since 2001-02.
A $250,000 purse is on the line plus points in the race for the Pinty’s Cup, which is awarded to the season champions. Winners of the Canadian Beef Masters also earn berths to the season-ending Humpty’s Champions Cup running April 23-28 at Saskatoon’s Merlis Belsher Arena.
You don’t want to miss the first major of the new Olympic cycle. Tournament passes, weekend passes and single draw tickets are now available, visit Ticketpro.ca or call 1-888-311-9090 to purchase yours today.
Can’t make it to Truro? Broadcast coverage of the Canadian Beef Masters begins Oct. 25 at 11:30 a.m. AT on Sportsnet and online at Sportsnet NOW (Canada) and Yare (international). For the full broadcast schedule, CLICK HERE.