By Jonathan Brazeau
STATELINE, Nev. — The finals are now locked in for the KIOTI GSOC Tahoe.
Canada’s Team Matt Dunstone will take on Scotland’s Team Bruce Mouat for the men’s title Sunday, while Canada’s Team Rachel Homan will face Switzerland’s Team Silvana Tirinzoni on the women’s side.
Read our live blog to find out how it all went down.
MEN’S AND WOMEN’S SEMIFINALS RECAP
Homan and Tirinzoni will meet in a fourth consecutive Grand Slam women’s final. Homan doubled up on Sweden’s Team Anna Hasselborg 6-3 and Tirinzoni eliminated Team Xenia Schwaller 6-4 in an all-Swiss matchup.
Homan was forced to draw for a single in the first, but she picked up a bonus point in the second, as Hasselborg’s takeout attempt to potentially score a multiple sailed past the shot rock.
Hasselborg blanked the third end and got her multi-score back in the fourth, after hitting a double for a deuce.
Homan matched with a hit to count a couple of points in the fifth and stole two in the sixth on another Hasselborg misfire. Hasselborg was held to a single in seven, and Homan ran her out of rocks in eight.
Team Tirinzoni opened with the hammer and converted for a deuce in the first end. The teams traded singles back and forth in the second and third ends, and again in the fourth and fifth.
Schwaller made the short raise takeout to score two tying points in the sixth. Team Tirinzoni responded with a deuce in seven to reestablish the decisive two-point lead.
Meanwhile, Dunstone upended Team Brad Jacobs 5-4 in a clash of Canadian clubs, and Mouat escaped with a 6-5 win over Switzerland’s Team Yannick Schwaller.
Jacobs won the last stone draw shot challenge to begin with the hammer, which proved to be key as he scored a deuce off the bat.
Dunstone took two back in the second. The teams alternated singles in three and four, and Dunstone stole points in five and six as Jacobs missed the mark on his last shots. Jacobs blanked the seventh to retain the hammer coming home, but was able to get only a single in eight.
Mouat held a 3-1 lead after three, but Team Schwaller matched with a pair of points in four and stole one in five as fourth Benoît Schwarz-van Berkel froze his last on the button, and Mouat was unable to unlock it enough to outcount it.
After Team Schwaller picked up another steal in the sixth, the comeback was on. Mouat was able to catch enough of Schwarz-van Berkel’s rock on the button in seven to pop it out and score the tying two points and stole the winning point in eight.
MEN’S QUARTERFINALS RECAP
Matt Dunstone is still in the driver’s seat at the KIOTi GSOC Tahoe.
Dunstone and his Winnipeg-based club downed Team John Epping of Sudbury, Ont., 7-3 in an all-Canadian clash during the quarterfinals to stay undefeated.
It was a hot start for Dunstone, who made a little tap at the back of the 12-foot circle to score a huge four in the first end.
Epping took two back in the second to cut the deficit in half.
Facing five in the third, Dunstone pulled off the clutch come-around draw to score a single.
Epping gave up steals in the fourth and fifth ends to fall behind by five points. The handshakes came out after Epping added one in the sixth.
It’ll be another Canadian matchup in the semis, as Dunstone takes on Team Brad Jacobs. The Calgary club advanced with a 7-5 win over Scotland’s Team Ross Whyte.
Jacobs, who also enters the semis unbeaten this week, defeated Dunstone in last season’s Brier final, but the tables have turned this season. Dunstone was victorious when they met in the AMJ Masters semifinals and again in the PointsBet Invitational final.
The other side of the bracket sees undefeated Team Bruce Mouat of Scotland face off against Switzerland’s Team Yannick Schwaller.
Mouat counted three in the second end and again in the eighth to oust Team Mike McEwen 8-4. Schwaller ousted Scotland’s Team Kyle Waddell 7-4.
It’ll be a rematch of last season’s world championship and Players’ Championship finals. Mouat won both, with the Players’ Championship final coming down to an extra end.
WOMEN’S QUARTERFINALS RECAP
Rachel Homan and her Canadian club remain perfect heading into the semifinals of the KIOTI GSOC Tahoe.
Homan, who went undefeated through the preliminary round, advanced to the final four with a 7-2 victory over South Korea’s Team Bo-bae Kang during the women’s quarterfinals.
The 19-time Grand Slam champion Homan jumped out of the gate with a count of three in the first end and never looked back.
After singles back and forth, Homan stole one in the fourth and two in the fifth to build a six-point advantage. Kang was limited to a single in the sixth and shook hands.
Homan will play Sweden’s Team Anna Hasselborg in a rematch from last month’s CO-OP Tour Challenge semifinals.
Hasselborg advanced after pinning the draw to the button in the shootout to oust Japan’s Team Sayaka Yoshimura 7-6.
It’ll also be a repeat from Nisku, Alta., in the other semifinal as Team Silvana Tirinzoni and Team Xenia Schwaller face off in an all-Swiss showdown.
Schwaller scored a single in the eighth end to edge Japan’s Team Satsuki Fujisawa 5-4, and Tirinzoni topped South Korea’s Team Eun-ji Gim 6-4.
Schwaller matched with a pair of points in the fifth and took the lead for the first time in the sixth on a steal, as Fujisawa’s shooter clipped her own rock in the house. Fujisawa tied it in the seventh, and Schwaller walked it off coming home.
Tirinzoni also carries an unblemished record and never trailed against Gim.
Fourth Alina Pätz made a nifty shot to score two points in the first end, bumping her guard off a Gim stone and into the house, while also spilling her shooter in the rings.
Gim hit and rolled too far in the second and was limited to a single, but stole one to tie it in the third as Pätz also couldn’t get her shooter to stick around.
Pätz bounced back with an open draw for two in the fourth, and Gim was forced to draw for just a single in the fifth. Team Tirinzoni added two more points in the sixth to cushion the lead and forced Gim to hit for one in the seventh.
TIEBREAKERS RECAP
Reigning world junior champion Bo-bae Kang and her South Korean club advanced to the playoffs in their first Grand Slam of Curling top-tier appearance.
Kang qualified after upsetting Canada’s Team Kerri Einarson in a 7-0 shutout.
The young phenom Kang never held the hammer, stealing singles in the second and third ends, a game-breaking four points in the fourth, and one more in the fifth to bring out the handshakes.
South Korea’s Team Eun-ji Gim also secured a spot in the quarterfinals with a 7-2 win over Japan’s Team Ikue Kitazawa.
Canada’s Team Mike McEwen moved on to the men’s quarterfinals after defeating Italy’s Team Joël Retornaz 7-3.
It was the third consecutive Grand Slam event where McEwen had to play a morning tiebreaker. Unlike the past two, this time his team is heading to the playoffs.
HOW TO WATCH THE KIOTI GSOC TAHOE
Every game of the 2025-26 Grand Slam of Curling season will be available (for free!) to worldwide audiences via live streaming on Rock Channel.
Fans will also be able to catch up anytime with full on-demand replays in the archived games section.
Canada
Sportsnet remains the home of the Grand Slam of Curling for Canadians, with broadcast coverage of the 2025 KIOTI GSOC Tahoe from Thursday, Nov. 6, to Sunday, Nov. 9.
Canadians can also stream GSOC games via Rock Channel*.
*Canadian fans will not have access to live access on Rock Channel to stream 2025-26 GSOC final matchups and select draws on Thursdays and Fridays. These games will be available live via linear TV on Sportsnet and streaming on Sportsnet+.
Europe
Eurovision will broadcast all games from Friday, Nov. 7 to Sunday, Nov. 9.
More information here on how to watch.
United States
FanDuel Sports Network will have coverage of three draws during the KIOTI GSOC Tahoe event.
• Thursday, Nov. 6: 6:30 p.m. ET / 3:30 p.m. PT — Team Allen vs. Team McEwen
• Saturday, Nov. 8: 2:30 p.m. ET / 11:30 a.m. PT — Women’s Quarterfinals
• Sunday, Nov. 9: 2:30 p.m. ET / 11:30 a.m. PT — Men’s Final
More here on ways to watch FanDuel Sports Network’s coverage.
