GSOC Masters Recap/National Preview
How good was it to have elite curling back on our screens with tip-top production? It's safe to say the curling season is in full swing! The Masters only concluded last week and the National is just around the corner- the final tune-up for many Canadian teams before the Olympic Trials (can you believe it's less than a month away?) If you're as excited as me, let's jump right into it!
GSOC Masters Recap
The Masters brought a few surprises, but also a lot of things we've become accustomed to as of later (hint: Fleury and Mouat).
First, let's take a look at who made the playoffs on the women's side:
 |
| Credit: GSOC/Anil Mungal |
Champion: Team Tracy Fleury
Runner-Up: Team Jennifer Jones
Semi-finalists: Team E. Kim, Kovaleva
Quarterfinalists: Team Tirinzoni, Peterson, Homan, Einarson
The Non-Surprises:
I predicted this! Tracy Fleury, Selena Njegovan, Liz Fyfe, and Kristin MacCuish were indeed the team to beat (with only one loss by the way). Their successful defence of the Masters title all the way back in 2019 is added to the slate of trophies they've already won this season. I'm very proud of Eunjung Kim and her Korea-based rink making their comeback to their slams after being embroiled in their abuse controversy. They've had a very busy season so far in preparation for the OQE so their semifinal appearance comes to no surprise to me. Although many would of betted highly for Homan and Einarson to place higher, only four could advance to the semis making it no surprise that these other household names qualified. Same goes for Tirinzoni, even though they have not played nearly as much, as well as Peterson who came hot out of their big win at the Autumn Gold in Calgary just a week prior.
The Surprises:
Just as there were many non-surprises, the triple-knockout format seems to have a knack of knocking out titans. Perennial playoff contenders Hasselborg and Fujisawa (2018's gold and bronze Olympic medallists) failed to crack the top eight. Hasselborg looked relatively fine earlier in the week, but got toppled by Koana and dark horses Kovaleva. Fujisawa could not retain the momentum from their second place finish at the Autumn Gold, making it their first DNQ since early 2019.
There's no doubt that Kovaleva is a solid team that has fairly experienced members despite being a comparatively young team. However, their silver performance at this year's Worlds seemed to come out of nowhere, especially after failing to qualify in the two slams in the bubble. Many would've betted against a semifinal finish for this team who seem to peak at the right moments. Hats off to them! Speaking of peaking, Team Jones became the second C-road team to best their opponents in the quarters. As Kevin Martin said, if you knew you'd be in the playoffs you'd take the long road. Just as many thought that Jones has reached the end of dominant success, she surprises the field yet again. I too was shocked being a huge Jones fan- but it just goes to show that the Olympic-winning veterans know how to make a comeback, rattling off five sudden death games after dropping their first two. It'll be interesting to see how they perform in the next few weeks.
The men are up next:
 |
| Credit: GSOC/Anil Mungal |
Champion: Team Bruce Mouat
Runner-Up: Team Brad Jacobs
Semi-finalists: Team Gushue, Bottcher
Quarterfinalists: Team Whyte, Edin, Matsumura, Koe
The Non-Surprises:
The top two teams in the world Mouat and Jacobs did not disappoint. Not to mention an Oakville rematch from just a month prior at the Stu Sells Oakville Classic just down the road. I'll try my best to not gloat too much, but it really is the perfect time to be a fan of Hammy McMillan, Bobby Lammie, Grant Hardie, and Bruce Mouat. The newly-minted Team GB representatives improved to a 30-1 record in the town after debuting as a foursome in 2017. Not to mention their third consecutive slam win. And their fourth straight win on Canadian soil. And their unblemished 6-0 record en route to the title. Okay, I'll stop. Moral of the story: they’re on a seemingly unstoppable roll.
Now back to Jacobs, Canadian men’s teams should be real scared to see a repeat of the 2013 Trials. They’re arguably even stronger this time around and Kennedy will be scratching to get back after 2018. Gushue has made yet another semifinal after doing the same at the Champions Cup and reaching the final at the Players’ in the bubble. Team Bottcher were finalists at the Champions Cup and have stayed consistent going into the Americas Challenge. Edin and Koe have had pretty successful seasons thus far, making it no surprise they qualified.
The Surprises:
I had an inkling that Ross Whyte would make a splash in their GSOC debut. They’ve performed exceptionally well this season, making a couple of finals and winning over fellow Scotsman Paterson in Kitchener-Waterloo. They’ve officially made a name for themselves and are quickly becoming fan-favourites. Another surprise for me was Yuta Matsumura who hit a streak late in the event to scrape out of the ‘C’ bracket. They’ll be Team Japan at the OQE and have played in a handful of slams before. They haven’t been known as a ‘tour team’ but they should be proud of this quarterfinal finish.
Reigning champions Dunstone could not defend their title in went home after falling in the ‘C’ road. As with the women, the TKO just has that ability to eliminate deserving teams. De Cruz aka Team Switzerland also couldn’t qualify despite a strong season. Same goes for McEwen who was probably the last favourite to go home early.
GSOC National Preview
The Boost National will kick off on November 2nd and will run until the 7th at the Chestermere Recreation Centre in Chestermere, Alberta. The National will be much of the same from the Masters. The stakes, prize money, and triple-knockout format will be here to stay. The key difference: we’ll get to see more teams we’ve never got to see before at the slams, which I personally love!
 |
| Credit: GSOC/Anil Mungal |
Men’s Division: (* denotes GSOC debut, excluding Tier 2 events)
Team Brendan Bottcher (Edmonton, Canada)- Masters Semifinalists
Team Braden Calvert* (Winnipeg, Canada)
Team Peter De Cruz (Geneva, Switzerland)- Masters DNQ
Team Matt Dunstone (Regina, Canada)- Masters DNQ
Team Niklas Edin (Karlstad, Sweden)- Masters Quarterfinalists
Team John Epping (Toronto, Canada)- Masters DNQ
Team Jason Gunnlaugson (Winnipeg, Canada)- Masters DNQ
Team Brad Gushue (St. John’s, Canada)- Masters Semifinalists
Team Glenn Howard (Penetanguishene, Canada)- Not invited/declined Masters invite
Team Brad Jacobs (Sault Ste. Marie, Canada)- Masters Runner-Ups
Team Kevin Koe (Calgary, Canada)- Masters Quarterfinalists
Team Mike McEwen (Winnipeg, Canada)- Masters DNQ
Team Bruce Mouat (Stirling, Scotland)- Masters Champions
Team Ross Paterson (Glasgow, Scotland)- Masters DNQ
Team Yannick Schwaller (Bern, Switzerland)- Masters DNQ
Team Ross Whyte (Stirling, Scotland)- Masters Quarterfinalists
 |
| Credit: GSOC/Anil Mungal |
Women’s Division: (* denotes GSOC debut, excluding Tier 2 events)
Team Corryn Brown* (Kamloops, Canada)
Team Hollie Duncan* (Woodstock, Canada)
Team Kerri Einarson (Gimli, Canada)- Masters Quarterfinalists
Team Tracy Fleury (East St. Paul, Canada)- Masters Champions
Team Satsuki Fujisawa (Kitami, Japan)- Masters DNQ
Team Un-Chi Gim (Uijeongbu, South Korea- Masters DNQ
Team Anna Hasselborg (Sundbyberg, Sweden)- Masters DNQ
Team Rachel Homan (Ottawa, Canada)- Masters Quarterfinalists
Team Jennifer Jones (Winnipeg, Canada)- Masters Runner-Ups
Team Min-Ji Kim (Chuncheon, South Korea)- Masters DNQ
Team Alina Kovaleva (Saint Petersburg, Russia)- Masters Semifinalists
Team Kelsey Rocque (Edmonton, Canada)- Masters DNQ
Team Irene Schori* (Langenthal, Switzerland)
Team Silvana Tirinzoni (Aarau, Switzerland)- Masters Quarterfinalists
Team Laura Walker (Edmonton, Canada)- Not invited/declined Masters invite
Team Isabella Wrana (Sundbyberg, Sweden)- Masters DNQ
Team Jacobs comes in as the defending champions from 2019 and will be hoping to climb up one podium spot. Team Mouat has even more pressure on them as they go for four consecutive slam victories. Their first-ever slam win (and first-ever slam as a team) came at the National in 2017. There is one team making their debut, Manitoba Braden Calvert who skipped his team to a World Junior gold in 2015. Glenn Howard will be at the National after either not bring invited or not accepting the invite for the Masters. The men's field remains virtually unchanged with Matsumura and Ruohonen bowing out.
We’ll see if Fleury can maintain her stride. Hasselborg comes in as the defending champion having beat Jones in 2019. Speaking of Jones, it’ll be really interesting to see how they fare this time around. The other playoff teams have arguably been the top teams of the season so far, they'll be expecting more of the same. We welcome BC Champs Corryn Brown, 2018 Ontario Champ Hollie Duncan, and veteran Schori who will skip her current foursome in their GSOC debut. One to thing to note is that the front-end of Team Duncan (Bobbie, Strybosch) has already been to the slams with Julie Tippin (who is their alternate). The women's field has changed quite dramatically. In addition to the three debuting squads, Laura Walker will make the trip to Chestermere after either not bring invited or not accepting the invite for the Masters. This translates into 4 teams from Oakville not attending: Koana, Yoshimura, E. Kim, and Peterson.
Playoff Predictions (in alphabetical order):
Thank you for reading! Make sure to follow me on Twitter/Instagram @onthebuttonblog if you haven't already to support my blog :)
Comments
Post a Comment