Field set for Grand Slam stop in Sault

The teams that will compete in the third event of the Grand Slam of Curling event in Sault Ste. Marie have been determined.

The National, scheduled for Dec. 6-11 at the Essar Centre, features 30 teams including 15 men’s and 15 women’s teams.

Brad Jacobs and his team from the Community First Curling Centre locally headlines the men’s field which features 14 of the top 15 teams in the world rankings.

On Sunday it was announced that Tanner Horgan of Sudbury, Ont. will round out the men’s field as a sponsor’s exemption for the event.

The other men’s teams include (with world rankings in parenthesis):

• Brad Gushue of St. John’s Nfld (1)
• Kevin Koe of Calgary, Alta. (2)
• Reid Carruthers of Winnipeg, Man.(3)
• Niklas Edin of Karlstad, Sweden (4)
• John Epping of Toronto, Ont. (5)
• Mike McEwen of Winnipeg, Man. (7)
• Steve Laycock of Saskatoon Sask. (8)
• David Murdoch of Stirling, Scotland (9)
• Charley Thomas of Edmonton, Alta. (10)
• John Morris of Vernon, B.C. (11)
• Brendan Bottcher of Edmonton, Alta (12)
• Peter DeCruz of Geneva, Switzerland (14)
• John Shuster of Duluth, Min, USA (15)

On the women’s side, Rachel Homan of Ottawa headlines a field that features the top 14 women’s teams in the world rankings. The sponsor’s exemption for the event will be Krista McCarville of Thunder Bay, Ont.

The women’s field also includes:

• Jennifer Jones of Winnipeg, Man. (2)
• Silvana Tirinzoni of Aarau, Switzerland (3)
• Eve Muirhead of Stirling, Scotland (4)
• Val Sweeting of Edmonton, Alta. (5)
• Allison Flaxey of Caledon, Ont. (6)
• Chelsea Carey of Calgary, Alta. (7)
• Anna Hasselborg of Sundbyberg, Sweden (8)
• Kelsey Rocque of Edmonton, Alta. (9)
• Anna Siderova of Moscow, Russia (10)
• EunJung Kim of Uiseong, Korea (11)
• Tracy Fleury of Sudbury, Ont. (12)
• Kerri Einarson of Winnipeg, Man. (13)
• Binia Feltscher of Flims, Switzerland (14)