STATELINE, Nev. — Matt Dunstone has finally learned his lesson.
For the third straight Grand Slam of Curling event, Dunstone has reached the final.
And for the third straight time, Dunstone has to rebook his early flight home now that he’ll be staying in town for another day.
“Fool me once, how does that saying go?” Dunstone said with a laugh after securing his spot in the KIOTI GSOC Tahoe men's final. “I guess I never learn, but maybe this will be the time we finally learn.”
Dunstone eliminated Brad Jacobs 5-4 in a clash of the top two Canadian clubs during Saturday’s semifinals. His Winnipeg-based crew will take on Scotland’s Team Bruce Mouat in a rematch of last month’s CO-OP Tour Challenge final.
Mouat escaped with a 6-5 win over Switzerland’s Team Yannick Schwaller after scoring two in the seventh and stealing the winning point in the eighth.
“We're obviously happy to make another final,” said Mouat, who earned his 11th Grand Slam title at the CO-OP Tour Challenge. “We've made quite a few of them over the last two years, so we’re looking forward to playing in another one."
Dunstone and Mouat are both "graduates" of the 2016 World Junior Curling Championships. Mouat captured the gold, while Dunstone took home bronze, coincidentally defeating Schwaller for the final spot on the podium.
While Mouat will play in his 15th Grand Slam final Sunday, championship appearances in the series have been harder to come by for Dunstone — or at least they had been until this season.
Dunstone reached his first Grand Slam final at the 2019 National and claimed the title in an emotional win over Team Brad Gushue. After finishing runner-up at the 2022 Tour Challenge to Team Niklas Edin (minus Niklas Edin, who was out with a knee injury), Dunstone's nearly three-year drought in Grand Slam finals ended in September as he made the AMJ Masters final and captured his second Grand Slam championship with a victory over Team Ross Whyte.
“I'm really proud of our consistency that we've shown over the first three Slams here,” Dunstone said. “We've been a really gritty group. It feels great to be in a third one in a row. It's awesome how they're starting to come in bunches. It's been a long hiatus for me personally, obviously. Now we're three in a row.
“It feels great, but tomorrow, we want to try and finish one off, at least have a little bit better show than we did in the last final.”
Dunstone fell 5-2 in the CO-OP Tour Challenge final to Mouat, who opened with the hammer and converted for a deuce with an exceptional draw shot in the first end and never looked back.
It’ll be Even Stevens to start this time as both teams carry unblemished records into the final and will have to draw for the last stone advantage.
“We'll have to just try and get the hammer. I think that's important in these kinds of games,” Mouat said. “Like last time, we played an incredible shot for two in the first end, and we got the jump on them, and that seemed to kind of help the momentum.
"We're hoping for similar, but Matt and the boys are playing incredible. The ice has been great all week, and it's gonna be a really good battle. I'm excited for it.”
Both Dunstone and Mouat had to come from behind in the semifinals.
Jacobs opened with the hammer against Dunstone and scored two points off the bat. Dunstone recovered in the second and took a deuce right back. After alternating singles in three and four, Dunstone stole back-to-back points in five and six to pull ahead 5-3 as Jacobs missed the mark on his last shots.
The seven-time Grand Slam champ Jacobs kept the hammer for the final frame and looked to make an angle raise double, but wasn't able to remove both of them.
Dunstone said staying patient after the first end was key.
“We had a really tough first, gifted him a deuce and then to answer it with a deuce, I mean, that's what this team is about,” Dunstone said. “After we got that deuce, we took over the game for the next six ends, and that's just a testament to this team and what we do best.”
Mouat was up 3-1 until his lead evaporated. Team Schwaller matched with a pair of points in the fourth, then stole one in the fifth 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 to set up the thrilling finale. Mouat sat a staggered pair in eight and Schwarz-van Berkel jammed the double attempt.
“That was a tough game to get through,” Mouat said. “We had the advantage after three ends, and he made like an incredible shot in four, five, six, just to get some steals. Proud of us for sticking in.”
Reflecting on the crucial shot in seven, Mouat was familiar with the path and left it in the hands of sweepers Bobby Lammie and Hammy McMillan Jr. to finish the job.
“I had played that in the first end which was quite fortunate and maybe the third end as well for two,” Mouat said. “We knew the path and we knew the weight. It was just about giving it to Bobby and Hammy and then hoping for the best.”
HOMAN VS. TIRINZONI, PART X
Fancy seeing you in the women’s final, Rachel Homan and Silvana Tirinzoni.
Homan's Canadian club and Tirinzoni's Swiss squad will meet in a fourth consecutive Grand Slam women’s final and a record-extending 10th total.
Both defeated the same opponents they eliminated last time out at the CO-OP Tour Challenge. This time, Homan doubled up on Sweden’s Team Anna Hasselborg 6-3, and Tirinzoni toppled fellow Swiss squad Team Xenia Schwaller 6-4.
“Yeah, really exciting that we're able to pull off some wins against some great teams here,” Homan said. “We're not surprised to see them in the final again.”
Homan opened the semis with the hammer, but her first skip stone stopped in an unfortunate spot that allowed Hasselborg to make a double and sit two. That forced Homan to draw for just a single.
The 19-time Grand Slam champ Homan picked up a bonus point in the second, though, as Hasselborg's takeout attempt to potentially score a multiple sailed past the shot rock.
“I was just kind of a centimetre away from making mine. Still, her shot was pretty tough and just didn't quite connect,” Homan said. “I think both first ends could have gone either way.”
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.
Meanwhile, Team Tirinzoni opened with the hammer against Schwaller and scored 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.
Tirinzoni wrapped up last season by defeating Homan in the Players’ Championship final and has lost only twice in the Grand Slam series this season: both times to Homan in the AMJ Masters and CO-OP Tour Challenge finals.
Overall, Homan holds a 7-2 advantage over Tirinzoni in their nine previous finals.
KUDOS TO KANG
Homan eliminated Team Bo-bae Kang 7-2 in the women's quarterfinals earlier Saturday, as the South Korean club and reigning world champions were making their first top-tier appearance in the series.
Kang went 2-2 through the preliminary round and qualified with a 7-0 upset over Canada’s Team Kerri Einarson in the morning tiebreakers.
It was all thievery for Kang, who never held the hammer and stole back-to-back singles in the second and third ends, a game-breaking four in the fourth, and another point in the fifth for early handshakes.
Although the quarterfinal was all Homan, she had high praise for the junior phenoms.
“We hadn't seen them before, and they look great,” Homan said. “They are up-and-coming, and they look like they're going to be tough real soon.”
SHOT OF THE DAY
It doesn’t get much more high-pressure than having to draw against five.
That was what Dunstone faced in the third end against Team John Epping during the men's quarterfinals.
Although Dunstone is more known for his hard hits and raises, the man they call the Sheriff was a sharp shooter on the draw. Brush Bros. E.J. and Ryan Harnden helped wrap it around and secured the shot rock to maintain control of the match with a 5-3 lead.
Epping gave up steals in four and five and shook hands after settling for a single in six as Dunstone won 7-3.
CHAMPIONSHIP SUNDAY SET
Dunstone and Mouat kick off Championship Sunday with the men’s final at 2:30 p.m. ET / 11:30 a.m. PT. Homan and Tirinzoni take the ice for the women’s final at 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT.
Watch live on Sportsnet or rockchannel.com. See our broadcast schedule page for more ways to watch.
