Grand Slam curling tournaments cut to two

Sportsnet is trimming its six-stop Grand Slam of Curling circuit to just two events next season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The network, which owns and operates the top-flight curling series, said Wednesday three Canadian stops will not be held this fall as scheduled. The circuit’s American debut in January was also scrubbed.

Instead, the first Grand Slam of the campaign won’t come until the April 13-18 Players’ Championship in Toronto, followed by the season finale two weeks later at the April 27-May 2 Champions Cup in Olds, Alta.

“The safety and wellbeing of curlers, volunteers, fans, partners and employees is of the utmost importance to Sportsnet,” Rob Corte, vice-president of Sportsnet and NHL Production, said. “Following careful thought and deliberation, we made the decision to postpone the season until we could safely deliver the world-class competition and intimate fan experience the Grand Slam series is known for.”

The 2020-21 schedule was originally set to kick off at the Oct. 20-25 Masters in Sarnia, Ont. The Tour Challenge was to be held Nov. 3-8 in Grande Prairie, Alta., and the Dec. 8-13 National was set for Chestermere, Alta.

Those three cities will host the same Slam events in the 2021-22 season, Sportsnet said, with the Tour Challenge to open the campaign in late September 2021. The Masters will follow a month later and the National will be played in November 2021.

Plans for the Meridian Open, originally set for Jan. 12-17, 2021, in Las Vegas, have yet to be determined. The second half of the 2021-22 Slam calendar will be released at a later date. Sportsnet said it “remains committed to growing the sport of curling outside of Canada” and will continue to work closely with local organizers in the Nevada city to reschedule the competition.

Corte said there were some discussions about the possibility of holding Grand Slam events without spectators. “We talked about that but for us, we want to maintain the world-class competition and that intimate fan experience that the Grand Slam of Curling represents,” he said. “With all of the COVID precautions that you’d have to put in place, you’re just not able to deliver that event experience.”

The news is a blow to top curling teams in Canada and around the globe as Grand Slam stops are the pearls of the World Curling Tour calendar.

“I’m certainly disappointed that they’re not going ahead,” skip Brad Gushue said from St. John’s, N.L. “Those are for me personally my favourite events to play in. I know a lot of players feel the same way.”