Winnipeg's Lawes tops Switzerland's Tirinzoni in early play at Kioti National

Team Lawes skip Kaitlyn Lawes, centre, looks on as teammates second Jocelyn Peterman, left, and lead Kristin Gordon sweep during curling action against Team Reese-Hansen at the PointsBet Invitational in Calgary on Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

ST. JOHN'S, N.L. -

Winnipeg's Kaitlyn Lawes made a game-winning draw to the button for a 5-4 victory over Switzerland's Silvana Tirinzoni on Wednesday at the Kioti National.

This is the first competition for the Canadian skip since she returned from maternity leave.

In other early games, Sweden's Anna Hasselborg defeated South Korea's Eun-Ji Gim 6-2 and Japan's Momoha Tabata beat Xenia Schwaller 6-4.

Satsuki Fujisawa topped Sayaka Yoshimura 6-3 in an all-Japanese matchup.

In Draw 6, Winnipeg's Mike McEwen defeated Switzerland's Marco Hoesli 5-2 and Ottawa's Rachel Homan beat Christina Black of Halifax 6-3.

Germany's Marc Muskatewitz outscored Switzerland's Yannick Schwaller 8-6 and Scotland's Ross Whyte dumped Switzerland's Michael Brunner 7-2.

Two more draws were scheduled for later in the day at the Mary Brown's Centre.

Competition at the Grand Slam of Curling event continues through Sunday.

   This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 27, 2024.