News Canadian Open

Kick off the New Year, Slam style, at the 2019 Meridian Canadian Open in North Battleford, Sask.

Single draw tickets are now available for the fifth event and third major of the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling season returning to North Battleford Civic Centre Jan. 8-13, 2019. Full-event and weekend passes can also be purchased.

Give the gift of curling this holiday season. Purchase tickets to the Meridian Canadian Open for that special someone by visiting 2019canadianopen.goigniter.com.

The Meridian Canadian Open features a star-studded field with 16 of the best men’s teams and 16 of the best women’s teams from around the world. Triple knockout brackets are used in preliminary play where teams must win three games before they lose three in order to qualify for the playoffs. Once teams lose three games they are eliminated. Eight teams — two from the A brackets, three from B and three from C — advance to the quarterfinals.

Saskatoon’s Team Kirk Muyres earned their spot by winning the Tour Challenge Tier 2 title in early November. Team Muyres completed an undefeated 7-0 run through the event and capped things with a convincing 8-3 victory over Team Scott McDonald. Skip Kirk Muyres can’t wait to play in Meridian Canadian Open in his home province and just up the road.

“This one’s marked on the calendar,” he said. “We want to play a Slam in Saskatchewan any time we can and it’s only about an hour from home. To get to play one there is awesome. We obviously can’t wait and hopefully, we can put on a good show there.”

This will be the second time in three seasons North Battleford Civic Centre will host the Meridian Canadian Open. Team Casey Scheidegger of Lethbridge, Alta., captured the women’s title in 2017 in the club’s first top-tier Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling event together. Scheidegger, who qualified through the C brackets, stunned Team Silvana Tirinzoni by stealing the winning point in the final end. Team Brad Gushue of St. John’s, N.L., topped Sweden’s Team Niklas Edin for the men’s championship in a preview of that season’s world championship gold-medal match.

Teams will be competing for a $250,000 purse plus points towards the Pinty’s Cup, awarded to the overall season champions following the conclusion of the Players’ Championship. Winners of the Meridian Canadian Open also earn berths towards the Humpty’s Champions Cup taking place April 23-28, 2019, in Saskatoon.

We hope you can join us for the Meridian Canadian Open as you don’t want to miss out on the first major of the New Year.