5 tour winners qualify for Humpty’s Champions Cup
UPDATE: Sportsnet and the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling have cancelled the 2020 Humpty’s Champions Cup.
Five tour event winners have now booked their spots to the 2020 Humpty’s Champions Cup in Olds, Alta.
The Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling season finale runs April 29 to May 3 at the Olds Sportsplex featuring 12 of the top men’s teams and 12 of the top women’s teams from around the world who have won high-profile titles. Two men’s berths and three women’s berths opened up as a result of Team Brad Jacobs (Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.) winning three GSOC men’s titles and Team Anna Hasselborg (Sundbyberg, Sweden) winning three GSOC women’s titles plus the European Championships women’s gold medal.
The series extended invitations Friday to Team Jennifer Jones (Winnipeg), Team Elena Stern (Oberwallis, Switzerland), Team Rachel Homan (Ottawa), Team John Epping (Toronto) and Team Bruce Mouat (Edinburgh, Scotland).
Full-event passes are now available for the 2020 Humpty’s Champions Cup, visit thegrandslamofcurling.com/tickets to purchase your pass today!
Jones captured the AMJ Campbell Shorty Jenkins Classic (Cornwall, Ont.) in September finishing the event with an unblemished 7-0 record including a 6-4 win over Tracy Fleury’s crew in the final. It’ll be a homecoming of sorts for Team Jones second Jocelyn Peterman, who is originally from nearby Red Deer, Alta.
Stern took the Canad Inns Women’s Classic (Portage la Prairie, Man.) in October. Team Stern scored two in the eighth and stole the winning point in an extra end to stun Team Homan 7-6 for the title.
Both Homan and Epping claimed the Canada Cup (Leduc, Alta.) in December taking on the top teams in the nation. The Canada Cup victories also secured Team Homan and Team Epping spots in the 2021 Roar of the Rings to determine Canada’s Olympic teams.
Mouat kicked off the New Year on home ice with an undefeated 8-0 run through the Mercure Perth Masters capped with a decisive 7-2 decision over Mike McEwen’s club for the title.
Other men’s teams who have already qualified to the Humpty’s Champions Cup are Masters winners Team Matt Dunstone (Regina), European champions Team Niklas Edin (Karlstad, Sweden), 2019 Players’ Championship winners Team Brendan Bottcher (Edmonton), Pacific-Asia champions Team Chang-Min Kim (Uiseong, South Korea) and reigning Pinty’s Cup champions Team Kevin Koe (Calgary). The women’s list also includes Players’ Championship winners Team Kerri Einarson (Gimli, Man.), Masters winners Team Tracy Fleury (East St. Paul, Man.), Pacific-Asia champions Team Yu Han (Beijing) and defending Humpty’s Champions Cup winners Team Silvana Tirinzoni (Aarau, Switzerland).
Bottcher is the event’s defending champion on the men’s side and his double win in the series to wrap up last season opened up a spot for Pinty’s Cup champion Koe.
Only four spots remain in both men’s and women’s divisions for the Canadian national champions (Tim Hortons Brier and Scotties Tournament of Hearts), U.S. national champions, world junior champions and world champions. Should a team that has already been selected also win one of those events, additional tour event winners (based on the strength of field list) will receive an invitation.
You don’t want to miss this one-of-a-kind, world-class event. Full-event passes are now available, visit thegrandslamofcurling.com/tickets to purchase your tickets today. Weekday and weekend passes are set to go on sale March 13, but fans should check our Twitter and Facebook pages over the next few weeks for some special promotions in February.
Broadcast coverage will be available on Sportsnet with online streaming at Sportsnet NOW (Canada) and Yare (international).
2020 Humpty’s Champions Cup lineup
| Men’s Division | Women’s Division |
| 2019 Players’ Championship Team Bottcher | 2019 Players’ Championship Team Einarson |
| 2019 Pinty’s Cup Team Koe | 2019 Humpty’s Champions Cup Team Tirinzoni |
| 2019 Masters Team Dunstone | 2019 Masters Team Fleury |
| 2019 KIOTI Tractor Tour Challenge (Tier 1) Team Jacobs | 2019 KIOTI Tractor Tour Challenge (Tier 1) Team Hasselborg |
| 2019 Pacific-Asia Championship Team Kim | 2019 Pacific-Asia Championship Team Han |
| 2019 European Championship Team Edin | 2019 Shorty Jenkins Classic Team Jones |
| 2019 Canada Cup Team Epping | 2019 Canada Cup Team Homan |
| 2020 Perth Masters Team Mouat | 2019 Canad Inns Women’s Classic Team Stern |
| 2020 Tim Hortons Brier TBD | 2020 Scotties Tournament of Hearts TBD |
| 2020 U.S. National Championship TBD | 2020 U.S. National Championship TBD |
| 2020 World Junior Championship TBD | 2020 World Junior Championship TBD |
| 2020 World Championship TBD | 2020 World Championship TBD |
