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Grand Slam of Curling postpones Sarnia tour stop to 2021

The Grand Slam of Curling event scheduled for this October at Sarnia Arena was postponed Wednesday until next year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Organizers will have an extra year to prepare for the Grand Slam of Curling’s Masters event after the Sarnia tour stop was postponed Wednesday to 2021.

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Sportsnet, which owns and operates the Pinty’s Grand Slam series, has moved the first four events on the 2020-21 calendar to 2021-22 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Masters was originally scheduled for Oct. 20-25 at Sarnia Arena. It will now be held Oct. 19-24, 2021.

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“It will provide us an extra opportunity to make sure that when we do present in 2021, that everything is to the highest standard and an amazing experience,” host committee member and Sarnia Golf & Curling Club general manager Michael Hearse said.

“I think for us we’re looking forward to it being a restorative experience and a very positive experience for the Sarnia-Lambton community, not only in economic impact but also in an opportunity just to celebrate and have some fun and enjoy the game we love, curling.”

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Approximately 65 per cent of tickets were already sold despite sales drying up once the pandemic hit Canada in mid-March, Hearse said.

“We’ve had a lot of support from the community, not only in ticket sales but also in sponsorship,” he said. “We’re really looking forward to being able to build on that foundation as we now set our sights on 2021.”

Volunteers were already in place and roughly 18,000 tickets had been sold, said Tourism Sarnia-Lambton’s special events and sports marketing co-ordinator Vicky Praill.

“We were well on our way to having a very successful event and then obviously COVID hit. But that’s life,” said Praill, who’s on the host committee. “We were lucky enough to secure it again for 2021. The safety of the volunteers and the fans and the participants is obviously the most important thing for us.

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“There was talk of maybe having it without any fans, but then, at the same time, that also doesn’t safeguard the participants.”

Teams are invited to Grand Slam of Curling events based on the World Curling Tour’s order of merit.

The 15 men’s teams and 15 women’s teams competing in Sarnia are expected to include Olympic and world championship medallists.

“When you have teams coming from all over the world, obviously Sportsnet and the organizing committee wanted to exercise an abundance of caution in just keeping not only the players and the staff and the volunteers but the community as safe as possible during this time,” Hearse said.

The Masters was originally going to kick off the Grand Slam season, but it will now be the second event on the 2021-22 schedule. The Tour Challenge has been pushed to Sept. 21-26, 2021, in Grande Prairie, Alta.

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Only two events remain on the 2020-21 schedule: the Princess Auto Players’ Championship in Toronto on April 13-18, 2021, and the Humpty’s Champions Cup in Olds, Alta., on April 27 to May 2, 2021.

“Following careful thought and deliberation, we made the decision to postpone the season until we could safely deliver the world-class competition and intimate fan experience the Grand Slam series is known for,” Sportsnet vice-president Rob Corte said in a statement.

When the Masters in Sarnia was announced last December, a Grand Slam news release stated each event delivers an average of more than $1.3 million in economic impact in the host market.

Tournament details and ticket information for the Masters will be available at the Ticketscene, Sarnia Golf & Curling Club and Grand Slam of Curling websites. People who have already bought tickets can keep them for next year or ask for a refund by Aug. 31, 2020.

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