Single draw tickets are now available for the Home Hardware Canada Cup of Curling, which will happen Dec. 5-9 at Affinity Place.
Seven men’s and eight women’s teams will be in Estevan, taking their best shots for the lion’s share of the $140,000 cash purse, along with the other perks that go to the champions of the Canada Cup.
The final batch of single-draw tickets, including playoff games, are now on sale, but inventory is limited, so fans will have to act quickly to make sure they have a seat to watch Canada’s best teams in action.
Weekday mornings draw tickets from Wednesday to Friday are $17.50 each. Weekday afternoons are $24.50 each, as are weekday evenings on Wednesday and Thursday. The tickets for the Saturday morning women’s draw, which could also include a men’s tie-breaker, are $27.50.
Premium evening tickets for Friday and Saturday night are $32.50, as are premium playoff tickets on Saturday and Sunday.
There is still limited availability of ticket packages, including the full-event package for $249.50, and day packages for $59.50. Packages will be available online by contacting Curling Canada or visiting its website. A limited number of single-draw tickets are available at the City of Estevan’s visitor information centre at the Estevan Leisure Centre.
All ticket packages are subject to standard ticket service fees.
The full schedule for the event is available on the Curling Canada website.
In addition to the cash prizes, the winning men’s and women’s teams will be guaranteed berths into the 2021 Road to the Roar Pre-Trials, which will be the final qualifying event for the 2021 Tim Hortons Roar of the Rings Canadian Curling Trials — the event that will decide Canada’s four-player teams for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
Also, the 2018 Canada Cup champions will qualify for a Curling World Cup event during the 2019-20 season.
Teams qualified to play at the 2018 Canada Cup based on their 2017-18 results. With new teams being formed for the 2018-19 season, a revised set of Order of Merit standings — which allows new teams to combine the points individual players carried over from former teams — as of May 1 was used to determine the invitees.
One more team in each gender will be decided as the top non-qualified teams on the Canadian team ranking system, as of Nov. 11, will book their tickets to Estevan.
A virtual tie for the final qualifying spot in the women’s competition meant one team was added to the field.
Reigning world women’s champion Jennifer Jones of Winnipeg, who also is the reigning champion for the Canada Cup, heads the field; also in the field will be 2017 world women’s champion Rachel Homan of Ottawa, Laura Walker (formerly Crocker of Calgary), Chelsea Carey (Edmonton), Casey Scheidegger (Lethbridge, Alta.), Kerri Einarson (Gimli, Man.) and Winnipeg’s Darcy Robertson.
The six qualified men’s teams include 2018 Tim Hortons Brier champ and world silver-medallist Brad Gushue of St. John’s, 2018 Brier silver-medallist Brendan Bottcher of Edmonton, 2014 Olympic champ Brad Jacobs of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., Calgary’s Kevin Koe (winner of the inaugural World Cup event last month in China), defending Canada Cup champ Reid Carruthers of Winnipeg and John Epping of Toronto.
The patch social area will be held in the Wylie-Mitchell Hall. Along with the opportunity to meet face-to-face with the athletes, the patch will offer live music, dancing, drinks and food, as well as interactive activities for the entire family.
