PointsBet pairings set!
Canada’s best teams heading to Calgary for PointsBet Invitational 2024
Just three months remain until the country’s best men’s and women’s curling teams gather in Calgary for a Wild West showdown.
The 2024 PointsBet Invitational is scheduled for Sept. 25-29 at the WinSport Event Centre in Calgary, as 16 women’s and 16 men’s teams look to kick off their seasons in style while trying to grab their share of a purse that exceeds $350,000.
Leading the field to Calgary will be Team Rachel Homan of Ottawa, who won the Scotties Tournament of Hearts at the WinSport Event Centre in February and followed up by winning gold at the 2024 BKT Tires World Women’s Curling Championship in Sydney, N.S. — an amazing season that was kicked off by winning the 2023 PointsBet Invitational in Oakville, Ont.
On the men’s side, 2024 Montana’s Brier champions and world championship silver-medallists Team Brad Gushue of St. John’s, N.L., will arrive in Calgary as the top seed.
Also in the field is two-time defending PointsBet Invitational men’s champion Team Reid Carruthers of Winnipeg.
Here’s how teams qualified:
The top 10 highest-ranked women’s and men’s teams on the final 2023-24 Canadian Team Ranking System (CTRS) standings.
The 2024 Alberta women’s (Team Selena Sturmay, Edmonton) and men’s (Team Aaron Sluchinski, Airdrie) champions.
The women’s (Team Allyson MacNutt, Halifax) and men’s (Team Kenan Wipf, Calgary) champions of the 2024 New Holland Canadian Under-21 Championships.
The women’s (Team Gabby Wood, Edmonton) and men’s (Team Jacob Dobson, Toronto) champions of the 2024 Canadian Colleges Athletic Association (CCAA)/Curling Canada College Championships.
The women’s (Team Serena Gray-Withers, Edmonton) and men’s (Team Josh Bryden, Regina) champions of the 2024 U SPORTS/Curling Canada Canadian University Championships.
The women’s and men’s champions of the Curling Canada Under-25 NextGen Classic in early September in Edmonton.
The women’s (Team Abby Burgess of Oromocto, N.B.) and men’s champions (Team Dan Sherrard of Beaumont, Alta.) the 2023 Everest Canadian Curling Club Championships,
To claim those berths, teams needed to have three of the four players still in the lineup with whom they qualified,
If any of the six championship-event qualifying teams were already in the top 10 of the 2023-24 CTRS (as was the case with both Alberta champions), those berths were awarded to the next highest non-qualified team on the CTRS.
Seedings to set the brackets are based on the 2023-24 CTRS standings; the winners of the Under-25 NextGen Classic will automatically be seeded 13th.
Here’s how the first-round Sweep 16 matchups look in both genders (including seedings and how they qualified):
WOMEN
Wednesday, Sept. 25
1. Team Rachel Homan (CTRS; Ottawa) vs. 16. Team Gabby Wood (CCAA champion; Edmonton)
4. Team Kaitlyn Lawes (CTRS; Winnipeg) vs. 13. Under-25 NextGen Classic women’s champions
5. Team Selena Sturmay (CTRS; Edmonton) vs. 12. Team Ashley Thevenot (formerly Team Skylar Ackerman; CTRS; Saskatoon)
8. Team Corryn Brown (CTRS; Kamloops, B.C.) vs. 9. Team Serena Gray-Withers (U SPORTS champion; Edmonton)
Thursday, Sept. 26
2. Team Chelsea Carey (formerly Team Jennifer Jones; CTRS; Winnipeg/Altona, Man.) vs. 15. Team Abby Burgess (Everest Club Championships winner; Oromocto, N.B.)
3. Team Kerri Einarson (CTRS; Gimli, Man.) vs. 14. Team Allyson MacNutt (New Holland Canadian Under-21 Championships winner; Halifax)
6. Team Kate Cameron (CTRS; Winnipeg) vs. 11. Team Jolene Campbell (CTRS; Regina)
7. Team Danielle Inglis (CTRS; Ottawa) vs. 10. Team Kayla Skrlik (CTRS; Calgary)
MEN
Wednesday, Sept. 25
1. Team Brad Gushue (CTRS; St. John’s, N.L.) vs. 16. Team Dan Sherrard (Everest Club Championships winner; Beaumont, Alta.)
4. Team Matt Dunstone (CTRS; Winnipeg) vs. 13. Under-25 NextGen Classic men’s champions
5. Team Kevin Koe (CTRS; Calgary) vs. 12. Team Josh Bryden (U SPORTS champion; Regina)
8. Team Rylan Kleiter (CTRS; Saskatoon) vs. 9. Team Sam Mooibroek (CTRS; Whitby, Ont.)
Thursday, Sept. 26
2. Team Brad Jacobs (formerly Team Brendan Bottcher; CTRS; Calgary) vs. 15. Team Jacob Dobson (CCAA champion; Toronto)
3. Team Mike McEwen (CTRS; Saskatoon) vs. 14. Team Kenan Wipf (New Holland Canadian Under-21 Championships winner; Calgary)
6. Team Reid Carruthers (CTRS; Winnipeg) vs. 11. Team Félix Asselin (CTRS; Montreal)
7. Team Aaron Sluchinski CTRS; Airdrie, Alta.) vs. 10. Team Owen Purcell (CTRS; Halifax)
Ticket-package sales have picked up recently, so now that the Sweep 16 matchups are set and packages providing fans with the best value are available, you’ll need to act quickly to make sure you get the seat you want.
