A number of males’s curling groups punched their tickets to the Canadian championship Sunday.
A discipline of 18 groups will curl Feb. 29 to March 9 within the Montana’s Brier in Kelowna, B.C.
Cameron de Jong (B.C.), Rylan Kleiter (Saskatchewan), Sam Mooiebroek (Ontario), John Epping (Northern Ontario), Tyler Smith (Prince Edward Island) and Ty Di Lello (Newfoundland and Labrador) prevailed of their championship finals.
New Brunswick determines its provincial champion Feb. 2, Northwest Territories on Feb. 3, and Alberta and Manitoba on Feb. 9.
Different provincial and territorial reps already topped have been Owen Purcell (Nova Scotia), Thomas Scoffin (Yukon), Felix Asselin (Quebec) and Shane Latimer (Nunavut).
Six-time champ Brad Gushue of St. John’s, N.L., has already punched his Brier ticket as defending champion.
Groups skipped by Brad Jacobs, Mike McEwen and Matt Dunstone pre-qualified for Kelowna primarily based on their rankings on the finish of the 2023-24 season.
Jacobs, a Canadian, world and Olympic champion, took over as skip of Brendan Bottcher’s Alberta-based crew, that ranked No. 2 in Canada on the finish of final season.
The victor in Kelowna represents Canada on the males’s world championship March 29 to April 6 in Moose Jaw, Sask.
Epping defeated Dylan Johnston 10-2 on Sunday. Epping will skip Northern Ontario on the Brier for the primary time after three appearances (2018, 2020 and 2021) for Ontario. His crew is ranked No. 5 in Canada.
Kleiter downed Steve Laycock 8-5 in Kindersley, Sask. De Jong was a 10-8 winner over Glenn Venance in Langley, B.C.
Mooiebroek defeated Scott Howard 7-4 in Coburg, Ont.
Tyler Smith will skip P.E.I. a second straight 12 months after going 5-3 final 12 months in Regina. His crew was an 8-6 winner Sunday over Darren Higgins.
Ty Di Lello’s crew stole two within the ninth and one within the tenth to defeat Andrew Symonds 6-5 in St. John’s.
This 12 months’s Brier winner can declare a berth in November’s Olympic trials so long as the crew ranks within the high six at world championships.
Defending Brier champion Gushue and Jacobs are already sure for trials.
Ought to Gushue or Jacobs prevail in Kelowna, the trials berth goes to the very best ranked crew on the conclusion of the 2024-25 season following the Gamers’ Championship in April.
