Canadian teams vie for spot at the World Curling Championship

March 9, 2009

The 2009 Tim Hortons Brier and the 2009 Scotties Tournament of Hearts are hosting premier Canadian curlers in a competition for the right to advance to the World Curling Championship. The champions will also have a chance to compete at the 2009 Canadian Olympic Curling Trials for the privilege of representing Canada at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

Jennifer Jones' Team Canada from Winnipeg, Manitoba became repeat Canadian champions during the 2009 Scotties Tournament of Hearts held from February 21 to March 1 at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre in Victoria British Columbia. They will now proceed to the 2009 World Womens Curling Championship at Gangneung, South Korea from March 21 to 29, 2009. They are also guaranteed a spot in the 2009 Canadian Olympic Curling Trials.

The men's Canadian curling for the Ford World Curling Championship, will be determined between March 7 to 15 at the Calgary Pengrowth Saddledome in Alberta during the 2009 Tim Hortons Brier. Currently Kevin Martin's Albertan team is in the lead. The winning team will then advance to the Ford World Championship held April 4-12 at the Coliseum in Moncton, New Brunswick.

The 2009 Canadian Olympic Curling Trials will be December 6-13, 2009 at Rexall Place in Edmonton, Alberta. Teams are selected from the winners of major curling championship in Canada to create a pool for the 2009 Canadian Olympic Curling Trials, including the 2006–07 to 2008–09 winners of the Strauss Canada Cup tournament, the Players' Championships, and the Canadian Men's/Women's Curling Championships. The 2010 XXI Winter Olympics will be held February 12-28, 2010, in Vancouver, British Columbia. The 2010 Canadian Women's Curling Championship will be held in the Essar Centre, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario and the 2010 Men's Brier will be held in the Metro Centre, downtown Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Curling is a popular winter sport in Canada, with over one million Canadians involved in the sport across Canada. Approximately 1 in 3 adult Canadians, around eleven million, watch the sport either live or via television.