Einarson cruises to 10-1 victory over Skrlik at Grand Slam’s Masters

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This article was published 14/01/2025 (625 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

GUELPH, Ont. – Kerri Einarson scored five points in the first two ends and cruised to a 10-1 victory over Kayla Skrlik on Tuesday at the Grand Slam of Curling’s WFG Masters.

Einarson’s team from Gimli, Man., opened with a deuce and stole three in the second, then added a four-point fifth end to complete the dominant win over Calgary’s Skrlik.

The result came just after the Court of Arbitration for Sport lifted a provisional suspension on Einarson teammate Briane Harris.

Harris, the lead on Team Kerri Einarson, tested positive on Jan. 24 for trace amounts of the prohibited substance Ligandrol. She received the results from an out-of-competition doping control test on Feb. 15 and hasn’t played since.

Harris claimed she was unknowingly exposed to the banned substance through bodily contact, and the CAS ruled she was not at fault or negligent for the positive test.

While Harris is cleared to play immediately It wasn’t immediately clear when she might return to action. She did not play in the win over Skrlik.

In other action in Tuesday’s third draw, Ottawa’s Rachel Homan defeated Ha Seung-youn of South Korea 7-4, Momoha Tabata downed fellow Japanese skip Satsuki Fujisawa 5-3, and Winnipeg’s Kaitlyn Lawes thumped Sweden’s Isabella Wrana 9-2.

Earlier, Brad Jacobs defeated John Epping 5-3 in a battle of Canadian rinks.

Jacobs and his Calgary-based side opened with a deuce and went ahead to stay with a single in the fifth end.

It’s the first Grand Slam of the season for Epping and his new Sudbury, Ont.-based team, which has risen to fifth in the national men’s rankings.

Phillipp Hoesli of Switzerland dumped Sweden’s Niklas Edin 10-2 and American Korey Dropkin defeated Mike McEwen’s Saskatoon-based side 8-3. Scotland’s Bruce Mouat topped Winnipeg’s Jordon McDonald 4-2 in the other early men’s game.

In Tuesday’s morning draw, Sweden’s Anna Hasselborg needed an extra end to complete a 7-6 win over Italy’s Stefania Constantini and Japan’s Ikue Kitazawa beat South Korea’s Eun-Ji Gim 6-4.

Switzerland’s Silvana Tirinzoni posted a 4-2 win over the Ottawa-based side skipped by Danielle Inglis and South Korea’s Eun-Jung Kim beat Switzerland’s Xenia Schwaller 5-1.

In the evening draw at the Sleeman Centre, Yannick Schwaller’s crew from Geneva, Switzerland whipped Rylan Kleiter’s team from Saskatoon, Sask., 10-2 in six ends.

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Schwaller scored a pair in the first end, gave up one in the second, then scored three times in the third en route to the victory.

Magnus Ramsfjell’s crew from Norway scored one in the eighth end to edge Brad Gushue’s team from St. John’s 7-6, Matt Dunstone’s Winnipeg-based crew clipped Joel Retornaz’s team out of Italy 6-5, and Marc Muskatewitz and his German squad beat Ross Whyte from Scotland 5-3.

Play continues through Sunday at the fourth Grand Slam stop of the season.

Organizers are experimenting with a new rule at the competition. Teams will lose hammer when consecutive ends are blanked.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 14, 2025.