NISKU, Alta. — Joanne Courtney said she had butterflies as she walked out onto the ice Tuesday night at Silent Ice Center.
Courtney stepped back from the sport in 2022, but she’s making a comeback this week for the Co-op Canadian Open subbing for second Shannon Birchard on Kerri Einarson’s team. Birchard needed more time to recover from a knee injury and Courtney got the call to draw into the lineup.
The eight-time Grand Slam of Curling title winner from Edmonton said playing on the ultimate stage against the top teams in the world is the best. Having the event in her backyard though makes it even better.
“This is a dream come true, especially when I didn’t think I’d get the chance to do it with a five-year-old who never got to watch me play on this stage,” Courtney said. “He’ll be able to come out on Friday. That’s really special and to not have the logistics of travel, especially with a young family, was also really, really nice. Playing in your backyard is the best.”
There are a couple of connections between Courtney and Team Einarson. She previously played with third Val Sweeting and also played mixed doubles with coach Reid Carruthers.
“That’s an impossible offer to turn down,” Courtney said. “The familiarity is wonderful. I was actually able to practise a little bit with Val before this event.
“You play against these people for your entire career, so you get to know people on tour and it’s just really fun to work my way into the lineup and get to those front-end jobs again.”
Team Einarson, from Gimli, Man., had Dawn McEwen join them for the first Grand Slam of Curling event of the season at last month’s HearingLife Tour Challenge. Einarson defeated Ottawa’s Team Rachel Homan 5-4 in the championship game to capture her sixth career Grand Slam title.
Courtney was also along for the ride during last week’s Saville Grand Prix in Edmonton. Team Einarson continued its title-winning ways edging South Korea’s Team Seung-youn Ha 6-5 in Sunday’s final.
DRAW 4 ROUNDUP
Team Einarson got out to a good start in the Co-op Canadian Open with a 9-3 victory over Edmonton’s Team Selena Sturmay.
Despite not starting with the hammer, Einarson rolled out to an early 5-0 lead. Sturmay was light on her draw in the first to give up a steal of two then hit and rolled out with her last in the second to concede three more points.
After settling for a single in the third, it looked like the tide had turned. Sturmay stole two points in the fourth to make it 5-3 as Einarson’s shooter didn’t hit the brakes in time and rolled too deep.
Einarson recovered quickly though with a draw for a deuce in the fifth to retake the four-point advantage. It was early handshakes as Sturmay attempted to hit off and roll in with her last in the sixth, but her shooter just grazed by to give up two more points.
“You’re just trying to get your feet under you in that first game, learn the conditions and try to manage your rocks as best as you can,” Courtney said. “Sturmay is a great team and we had to be conscious about where we were leaving our rocks. Ultimately, I was pretty happy with the performance, but we’ll build from here.”
Elsewhere in Draw 4, Ottawa’s Team Rachel Homan defeated Team Sayaka Yoshimura of Japan 6-4. The world No. 1 Homan is fresh off capturing the gold medal at the Pan Continental Curling Championships in Lacombe, Alta. Homan stole the winning point to beat South Korea’s Team Eun-ji Gim 6-5 in Saturday’s final.
Winnipeg’s Team Chelsea Carey topped Team Momoha Tabata of Japan 7-6 and Sweden’s Team Isabella Wranå upended South Korea’s Team Eun-jung Kim 7-5.
UP NEXT
Round-robin play resumes Wednesday with Draw 5 at 10:30 a.m. ET / 8:30 a.m. MT.
Coverage on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+ begins Thursday at 2 p.m. ET / noon MT.
NOTES
The Co-op Canadian Open is the second Grand Slam of Curling event of the season featuring 16 of the top men’s teams and 16 of the top women’s teams from around the world. … Round-robin play runs through to Friday evening. The top eight teams advance to the playoffs. If necessary, one tiebreaker draw will be played Saturday morning. … The quarterfinals and semifinals are scheduled for Saturday with both finals on tap Sunday.