Of all the curling tours, the Capital One Grand Slam of Curling is perhaps the most prestigious, as it features many of the top players in the world. This series was formerly referred to as the Masters of Curling, but is not considered to be similar to a World Cup. This is great news for curling fans because of the amount of competition there will be each and every month leading up to the Olympic Games. All of the top teams in the world will participate in these tournaments, which will serve as a tune up for the big event this February. This includes internationally recognized rinks like David Murdoch, Fengchun Wang, Ulrik Schmidt, Niklas Edin, Andy Kapp, and Thomas Ulsrud. With all of this talent being present on the men’s side, it is easy to see why people are so excited about these events.
For countries like Canada and Switzerland that have not yet selected their Olympic rinks, the Grand Slam of Curling will give these teams the chance to perform at a high level before their Olympic Trials occur. In fact, Canada will be sending its top five rinks to the Grand Slam of Curling, with each of these teams being a contender at every event. These tournaments will be occurring throughout the winter, with the team that ends up with the most points at the end of the series being crowned the Capital One Cup champions.
The Grand Slam of Curling hopes to distance itself from the other curling tours in the world in order to become the most well known series in the industry. This will be difficult, as there are some very good tours currently operating in Europe, but the quality of the field at these events truly cannot be ignored. The more these large bonspiels take center stage, the closer we are getting to having a very good professional curling tour. This, of course, is great news for players and fans alike, as it will help the game as a whole to grow, while giving these players the chance to compete in high level tournaments throughout the entire season.
This is truly an exciting time to be a curling fan because of the new events that are occurring all over the world and bringing top notch players into competition with one another. The Grand Slam of Curling will feature a number of world championship caliber events, which is sure to provide non-stop curling action throughout the week. The top rinks in the world are prepared like never before for the Olympic Games, making this one of the most exciting times in the sport’s history.
