2018 Tour Challenge

2018 Tour Challenge

Host city	Thunder Bay, Ontario
Arena	Tournament Centre
Dates	November 6–11
Men's winner	Brad Jacobs
Curling club	Community First CC, Sault Ste. Marie, ON
Skip	Brad Jacobs
Third	Ryan Fry
Second	E. J. Harnden
Lead	Ryan Harnden
Finalist	Brendan Bottcher
Women's winner	Rachel Homan
Curling club 2	Ottawa CC, Ottawa, ON
Skip 2	Rachel Homan
Third 2	Emma Miskew
Second 2	Joanne Courtney
Lead 2	Lisa Weagle
Finalist 2	Tracy Fleury
Prev	2017
Next	2019

The 2018 Tour Challenge was held from November 6 to 11 at the Tournament Centre in Thunder Bay, Ontario. This was the third Grand Slam of the 2018–19 curling season.

In the men's Tier 1 competition, Brad Jacobs defeated Brendan Bottcher in the final 6–5. Team Bottcher was playing in their first Grand Slam final. In Tier 2, Kirk Muyres defeated Scott McDonald's team in the final to secure a spot in the 2019 Canadian Open.

The women's Tier 1 competition saw Rachel Homan defeat Tracy Fleury 8–4. In the Tier 2 final, Elena Stern beat Sayaka Yoshimura 6–5, qualifying for the 2019 Canadian Open.

Qualification

The Tour Challenge consists of two tiers of 15 teams. For Tier 1, the top 15 teams on the World Curling Tour's Order of Merit rankings as of October 1, 2018. If any teams declined, the next highest team was invited until the field of 15 teams was complete. For Tier 2, the next 10 teams on the OOM rankings are invited. The final 5 teams in Tier 2 are filled by regional invitations extended by the Grand Slam of Curling.^[1]

Men

Top Order of Merit men's teams as of October 1:^[2]

1. Brad Gushue
2. Niklas Edin
3. Kevin Koe
4. Bruce Mouat
5. Brad Jacobs
6. Reid Carruthers
7. John Epping
8. Jason Gunnlaugson
9. Peter de Cruz
10. Glenn Howard
11. Steffen Walstad
12. Brendan Bottcher
13. John Shuster
14. Thomas Ulsrud
15. Rich Ruohonen
16. Ross Paterson
17. Yannick Schwaller
18. Matt Dunstone
19. Braden Calvert

Women

Top Order of Merit women's teams as of October 1:^[3]

1. Anna Hasselborg
2. Jennifer Jones
3. Rachel Homan
4. Tracy Fleury
5. Laura Walker
6. Eve Muirhead
7. Jamie Sinclair
8. Nina Roth
9. Silvana Tirinzoni
10. Satsuki Fujisawa
11. Kim Eun-jung
12. Kerri Einarson
13. Darcy Robertson
14. Casey Scheidegger
15. Chelsea Carey
16. Isabella Wranå
17. Allison Flaxey
18. Anna Sidorova
19. Cory Christensen
20. Krista McCarville

Men

Tier 1

Teams

Skip	Third	Second	Lead	Locale
Brendan Bottcher	Darren Moulding	Bradley Thiessen	Karrick Martin	Edmonton, Alberta
Braden Calvert	Kyle Kurz	Ian McMillan	Rob Gordon	Winnipeg, Manitoba
Mike McEwen (Fourth)	Reid Carruthers (Skip)	Derek Samagalski	Colin Hodgson	Winnipeg, Manitoba
Benoît Schwarz (Fourth)	Sven Michel	Peter de Cruz (Skip)	Valentin Tanner	Geneva, Switzerland
Matt Dunstone	Braeden Moskowy	Catlin Schneider	Dustin Kidby	Regina, Saskatchewan
Niklas Edin	Oskar Eriksson	Rasmus Wranå	Christoffer Sundgren	Karlstad, Sweden
John Epping	Mat Camm	Brent Laing	Craig Savill	Toronto, Ontario
Jason Gunnlaugson	Alex Forrest	Denni Neufeld	Connor Njegovan	Morris, Manitoba
Brad Gushue	Mark Nichols	Brett Gallant	Geoff Walker	St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador
Glenn Howard	Scott Howard	David Mathers	Tim March	Penetanguishene, Ontario
Brad Jacobs	Ryan Fry	E. J. Harnden	Ryan Harnden	Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
Kevin Koe	B. J. Neufeld	Colton Flasch	Ben Hebert	Calgary, Alberta
Ross Paterson	Kyle Waddell	Duncan Menzies	Michael Goodfellow	Glasgow, Scotland
Greg Persinger (Fourth)	Rich Ruohonen (Skip)	Colin Hufman	Phil Tilker	Chaska, United States
John Shuster	Chris Plys	Matt Hamilton	John Landsteiner	Duluth, United States

^[4]

Round-robin standings

Key
	Teams to playoffs
	Teams to tiebreakers

Pool A W L PF PA Brad Gushue 4 0 29 16 Rich Ruohonen 3 1 26 20 John Epping 1 3 21 25 Jason Gunnlaugson 1 3 14 22 Ross Paterson 1 3 21 28

Pool B W L PF PA Peter de Cruz 3 1 23 18 John Shuster 3 1 22 17 Matt Dunstone 2 2 15 19 Niklas Edin 1 3 15 17 Reid Carruthers 1 3 17 21

Pool C W L PF PA Brad Jacobs 3 1 16 11 Brendan Bottcher 3 1 24 14 Kevin Koe 2 2 12 20 Glenn Howard 2 2 22 14 Braden Calvert 0 4 12 27

Round-robin results

All draw times are listed in Eastern Daylight time (UTC-4).

Draw 1

Tuesday, November 6, 7:00 pm

Draw 2

Wednesday, November 7, 8:00 am

Draw 3

Wednesday, November 7, 11:30 am

Draw 4

Wednesday, November 7, 3:00 pm

Draw 5

Wednesday, November 7, 7:00 pm

Draw 6

Thursday, November 8, 8:00 am

Draw 7

Thursday, November 8, 11:30 am

Draw 8

Thursday, November 8, 3:00 pm

Draw 9

Thursday, November 8, 7:00 pm

Draw 10

Friday, November 9, 8:00 am

Draw 11

Friday, November 9, 11:30 am

Draw 12

Friday, November 9, 3:00 pm

Draw 13

Friday, November 9, 7:00 pm

Tiebreaker

Saturday, November 10, 8:30 am

Playoffs

Quarterfinals

Saturday, November 10, 4:00 pm

Semifinals

Saturday, November 10, 8:00 pm

Final

Sunday, November 11, 4:00 pm

Tier 2

Round-robin standings

Key
	Teams to playoffs
	Teams to tiebreakers

Pool A W L Tanner Horgan 3 1 Charley Thomas 3 1 Glen Muirhead 2 2 Andrew Stopera 2 2 Dennis Bohn 0 4

Pool B W L Scott McDonald 4 0 Mark Fenner 3 1 William Lyburn 2 2 Dylan Johnston 1 3 Jordan Chandler 0 4

Pool C W L Kirk Muyres 4 0 Team Tuck 3 1 Jaap van Dorp 2 2 Tanner Lott 1 3 Colin Koivula 0 4

Tiebreakers

• Muirhead 5-2 Stopera
• van Dorp 7-4 Lyburn

Women

Tier 1

Teams

Skip	Third	Second	Lead	Locale
Chelsea Carey	Sarah Wilkes	Dana Ferguson	Heather Rogers	Edmonton, Alberta
Cory Christensen	Vicky Persinger	Jenna Martin	Madison Bear	Chaska, United States
Kerri Einarson	Val Sweeting	Shannon Birchard	Briane Meilleur	Gimli, Manitoba
Allison Flaxey	Kate Cameron	Taylor McDonald	Raunora Westcott	Winnipeg, Manitoba
Tracy Fleury	Selena Njegovan	Liz Fyfe	Kristin MacCuish	East St. Paul, Manitoba
Rachel Homan	Emma Miskew	Joanne Courtney	Lisa Weagle	Ottawa, Ontario
Jennifer Jones	Kaitlyn Lawes	Jocelyn Peterman	Dawn McEwen	Winnipeg, Manitoba
Krista McCarville	Kendra Lilly	Ashley Sippala	Sarah Potts	Thunder Bay, Ontario
Darcy Robertson	Karen Klein	Vanessa Foster	Theresa Cannon	Winnipeg, Manitoba
Nina Roth	Tabitha Peterson	Aileen Geving	Becca Hamilton	Chaska, United States
Casey Scheidegger	Cary-Anne McTaggart	Jessie Haughian	Kristie Moore	Lethbridge, Alberta
Jamie Sinclair	Alex Carlson	Sarah Anderson	Monica Walker	Chaska, United States
Alina Pätz (Fourth)	Silvana Tirinzoni (Skip)	Esther Neuenschwander	Melanie Barbezat	Aarau, Switzerland
Laura Walker	Cathy Overton-Clapham	Lori Olson-Johns	Laine Peters	Edmonton, Alberta
Isabella Wranå	Jennie Wåhlin	Almida de Val	Fanny Sjöberg	Stockholm, Sweden

^[5]

Round-robin standings

Key
	Teams to playoffs

Pool A W L PF PA Nina Roth 3 1 24 18 Jennifer Jones 3 1 26 16 Silvana Tirinzoni 2 2 16 18 Allison Flaxey 1 3 20 22 Isabella Wranå 1 3 13 25

Pool B W L PF PA Rachel Homan 4 0 30 10 Kerri Einarson 3 1 18 16 Jamie Sinclair 1 3 13 19 Cory Christensen 1 3 16 25 Chelsea Carey 1 3 18 24

Pool C W L PF PA Tracy Fleury 4 0 28 11 Darcy Robertson 2 2 19 25 Laura Walker 2 2 20 20 Krista McCarville 1 3 14 22 Casey Scheidegger 1 3 17 20

Round-robin results

All draw times are listed in Eastern Daylight time (UTC-4).

Draw 1

Tuesday, November 6, 7:00 pm

Draw 2

Wednesday, November 7, 8:00 am

Draw 3

Wednesday, November 7, 11:30 am

Draw 4

Wednesday, November 7, 3:00 pm

Draw 5

Wednesday, November 7, 7:00 pm

Draw 6

Thursday, November 8, 8:00 am

Draw 7

Thursday, November 8, 11:30 am

Draw 8

Thursday, November 8, 3:00 pm

Draw 9

Thursday, November 8, 7:00 pm

Draw 10

Friday, November 9, 8:00 am

Draw 11

Friday, November 9, 11:30 am

Draw 12

Friday, November 9, 3:00 pm

Playoffs

Quarterfinals

Saturday, November 10, 12:00 pm

Semifinals

Saturday, November 10, 8:00 pm

Final

Sunday, November 11, 12:00 pm

Tier 2

Round-robin standings

Key
	Teams to playoffs
	Teams to tiebreakers

Pool A W L Sayaka Yoshimura 4 0 Hollie Duncan 3 1 Susan Froud 2 2 Jenna Enge 1 3 Annmarie Dubberstein 0 4

Pool B W L Binia Feltscher 3 1 Elena Stern 3 1 Kira Brunton 2 2 Jacqueline Harrison 2 2 Mary-Anne Arsenault 0 4

Pool C W L Gim Un-chi 4 0 Kelsey Rocque 2 2 Kristen Streifel 2 2 Julie Tippin 2 2 Hailey Beaudry 0 4

Tiebreakers

• Froud 2-8 Rocque
• Streifel 10-3 Brunton
• Harrison 4-7 Tippin

References

1. ^ "Qualification for the Tour Challenge". Grand Slam of Curling. Retrieved October 18, 2018.
2. ^ CurlingZone
3. ^ CurlingZone
4. ^ Brazeau, Jonathan (October 17, 2018). "2018 Tour Challenge Tier 1: Men’s Teams". Grand Slam of Curling. Retrieved October 18, 2018.
5. ^ Brazeau, Jonathan (October 17, 2018). "2018 Tour Challenge Tier 1: Women’s Teams". Grand Slam of Curling. Retrieved October 18, 2018.

External links

• Official website