Kerri Einarson of Gimli, Manitoba, won the 2024 HearingLife Tour Challenge in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island on Sunday. In an all-Canadian final, Einarson defeated Rachel Homan of Ottawa 5-4. This was the first Grand Slam of Curling event of the 2024–25 season and the sixth Grand Slam title for Einarson.
Einarson had a different front end than she is used to. Their leader was Krysten Karwacki of Winnipeg, their runner-up was Canadian Olympic champion Dawn McEwen of Winnipeg. Karwacki came on for Briane Harris. In February, Harris tested positive for Ligandrol, was suspended for the doping violation and is awaiting a decision in the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s appeal. McEwen came on for Shannon Birchard, who is out with a knee injury. She led Team Canada as Jennifer Jones of Winnipeg won the gold medal 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.
In Charlottetown last week, Einarson lost her first game 6-4 to Stefania Constantini of Italy. Einarson then had to go through the B side of the triple knockout tournament, where she defeated American Delaney Strouse 7-4, Sweden’s Anna Hasselborg 7-1 and Winnipeg’s Kaitlyn Lawes 5-4. Einarson then defeated Sweden’s Isabelle Wrana 6-1 in the quarterfinals and Japan’s Satsuki Fujisawa 6-4 in the semifinals. In the final, Homan made two crucial errors in the sixth round. She flashed while attempting to remove the Einarson stones with her first throw and was unable to contain her shooter on a takeout attempt with her second throw.
Einarson has won six Grand Slam titles in the last nine years. She also won the 2016 National in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, the 2019 Players’s Championship in Toronto, Ontario, the 2021 Players’s Championship in Calgary, Alberta, the 2022 Champions’s Cup in Olds, Alberta, and the 2022 Masters in Oakville, Ontario. McEwen has now won 16 Grand Slam titles since 2007.
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