Boost National | |
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Established | 2002 |
2024 host city | St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador |
2024 arena | Mary Brown's Centre |
Men's purse | CAD$200,000 |
Women's purse | CAD$200,000 |
Current champions (2023) | |
Men | Joël Retornaz |
Women | Gim Eun-ji |
Current edition | |
Grand Slam of Curling events |
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The National, currently referred to as the KIOTI National for sponsorship reasons, is a curling tournament that is one of the five events that are part of the Grand Slam of Curling tour, and one of its four "majors". [1]
Beginning in 2022, the event features 16 men's and 16 women's teams. The top 16 (or 15 if there's a sponsors exemption) teams on the World Curling Federation's Order of Merit qualify. In some cases a "sponsors exemption" is permitted, in which a local team is picked to compete. [2] The 16 teams are divided into four groups of four teams, and the top eight teams overall advance to a single elimination playoff. [3] In 2021, the event was a 16 team triple knockout event before the 8 team playoff. From 2015 to 2019, the event had 15 teams divided into three groups of five teams. From 2007 to 2014, the event had three pools of six teams each.
* Maxime Elmaleh curled for the team in the final.
Johan Niklas Edin is a Swedish curler. He currently resides in Karlstad, which has been his curling home base since 2008. He holds several sport distinctions. He is the first and the only skip in World Curling Federation (WCF) history to win three Olympic medals – gold (2022), silver (2018), and bronze (2014) – and to skip men's curling teams to seven World Men's Curling Championship medals. He is also a seven-time European Curling Championship titleholder and won three silver medals in those championships. He is currently tied with Oskar Eriksson in first place on the WCF-recognized list of championship medals, with thirty-eight in total. He reached the playoffs in forty-five Grand Slam of Curling events and won the Pinty's Cup with his current teammates, Oskar Eriksson, Rasmus Wranå, and Christopher Sundgren. With the same lineup in 2022, Edin and his teammates also became the first and only men's curling team to win a fourth consecutive World Men's Curling Championship. Edin has played exclusively in the position of skip since 2007. The team bearing his name has been ranked on the World Curling Tour as high as No. 1, including for most of the 2017–18 season. As of the end of the 2021–22 Curling Season, Team Edin was ranked in the top three teams in the world.
The Players' Championship, currently known as the Princess Auto Players' Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the final event of the Grand Slam of Curling tour, and is formerly the championship of the World Curling Tour season.
The Grand Slam of Curling is a series of curling bonspiels that were formerly part of the annual World Curling Tour. Grand Slam events offer a purse of at least CAD$100,000, and feature the best teams from across Canada and around the World. The Grand Slam was instituted during the 2001–02 season for men and 2006–07 for women, but some of the Grand Slam events have longer histories as bonspiels.
Jessica "Jessie" Hunkin is a Canadian curler from Parkland County, Alberta. She currently plays third on Team Robyn Silvernagle.
The Tour Challenge, known as the HearingLife Tour Challenge for sponsorship reasons, is a bonspiel, or curling tournament, which is one of the Grand Slam of Curling events. It was introduced into the Grand Slam lineup starting in the 2015–16 curling season.
The Champions Cup is a Canadian curling tournament. Part of the Grand Slam of Curling (GSoC) and the World Curling Tour, it is the sixth GSoC event on the women's tour and the seventh on the men's tour.
Kim Min-ji is a South Korean curler. She currently plays third on the Gyeonggi Province curling team skipped by Gim Eun-ji. She is a 2018 Pacific-Asia Curling champion.
Kim Chang-min is a South Korean curler. Kim was the skip of the South Korean men's team at the 2018 Winter Olympics.
The 2016 National was held from December 6 to 11 at the Essar Centre in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. This was the third Grand Slam of Curling event and the second major of the 2016–17 curling season.
Kim Kyeong-ae, nicknamed "Steak", is a South Korean curler. She currently plays third on Team Kim Eun-jung. The Kim team represented South Korea at the 2018 Winter Olympics, where they won a silver medal.
Bygg Ida Sofia Mabergs is a Swedish curler from Gävle. She currently plays lead on Team Anna Hasselborg. With the Hasselborg rink, she won the gold medal in women's curling at the 2018 Winter Olympics.
The 2018 Canadian Beef Masters was held from October 23 to 28, at the Rath Eastlink Arena in Truro, Nova Scotia. This was the second Grand Slam and first major of the 2018–19 curling season.
The 2018 BOOST National was held from December 11 to 16 at the Conception Bay South Arena in Conception Bay South, Newfoundland and Labrador. This will be the fourth Grand Slam and second major of the 2018–19 curling season.
Melanie Barbezat is a Swiss retired curler from Zollikofen. From 2018 to 2022, she played lead for the Silvana Tirinzoni rink that won three consecutive World Women's Curling Championship titles in 2019, 2021 and 2022. The team also won the 2019 Champions Cup Grand Slam of Curling event, and competed at the 2022 Winter Olympics where they placed fourth.
Robyn Silvernagle is a Canadian curler from Unity, Saskatchewan. She currently skips her own team out of Sexsmith, Alberta. She is a three-time Saskatchewan Scotties Tournament of Hearts champion, winning the title in 2019, 2020 and 2023.
The 2019 BOOST National was held from December 10 to 15, at the Conception Bay South Arena in Conception Bay South, Newfoundland and Labrador. It was the third Grand Slam and second major of the 2019–20 season.
The 2020 Meridian Canadian Open was held from January 14 to 19 at the Gallagher Centre in Yorkton, Saskatchewan. It was the fourth Grand Slam event and third "major" of the 2019–20 season. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it would end up being the last Grand Slam of the season, and the last Slam to be held until the 2021 Champions Cup held in April 2021.
The 2004 M&M Meat Shops Masters of Curling was held from December 9 to 12, 2004 at the Elgar Petersen Arena in Humboldt, Saskatchewan. The event was one of the four men's Grand Slams of the 2004–05 curling season.
The 2023 Co-op Canadian Open was held from January 10 to 15 at the Encana Arena in Camrose, Alberta. It was the fourth Grand Slam event and third major of the 2022–23 curling season.
The 2023 WFG Masters was held from December 12 to 17 at the Merlis Belsher Place in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. It was the third Grand Slam event and second major of the 2023–24 curling season.