Just five months out from the Humpty’s Champions Cup curling event, big names are quickly securing their spots.
The 24-team finale of the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling season is set to take place in Olds from April 29- May 3. The event, featuring the world’s best curlers, 12 male and 12 female teams, has 11 confirmed as the season heats up.
Teams qualify to compete in Olds by winning one of the other major grand slam events throughout the curling season.
In the men’s division, six teams have qualified, including Brendan Bottcher, Brad Jacobs, Kevin Koe and Matt Dunstone. Sweden’s Niklas Edin, who won silver at the 2018 Olympics and Chang-min Kim from South Korea, both won their respective regional championships.
Tracy Fleury and Kerri Einarson, both from Manitoba, are the only two Canadian teams in on the women’s side so far. Seven spots are still left to be decided with a handful of international teams in the mix, including Silvana Tirinzoni from Switzerland, Anna Hasselborg from Sweden and Yu Han from China round out the five qualified teams with seven spots remaining.
Team Jennifer Jones, featuring Red Deer’s own Jocelyn Peterman, is still yet to qualify but is currently ranked sixth in the standings and have six more events this season on the tour to earn a spot. Peterman is the daughter of committee Chair Nancy McInerney and committee member Lowell Peterman. He said it would be special to see his daughter compete at the event.
“We would love to see Jocelyn play in front of a hometown crowd,” he said. “Though we know it’s a competitive field and they’ll have to work hard to earn their spot.”
Tickets are 50 per cent sold out for the event and can be found at www.thegrandslamofcurling.com/
The next event on the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling Tour is Dec. 10-15 in Conception Bay South, Newfoundland.
Email sports tips to Byron Hackett
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