News Canadian Open

Toronto’s John Epping starts his title defence at the Meridian Canadian Open looking to knock off provincial rival Greg Balsdon in the first draw.

The Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling released the full schedule and triple knockout brackets on Tuesday for the fourth event of the 2016-17 season, which opens the New Year running Jan. 3-8 at the Civic Centre in North Battleford, Sask.

Epping is aligned against Balsdon, whose team from Kingston qualified for the Meridian Canadian Open by winning the Tour Challenge Tier 2 division last month in Cranbrook, B.C.

Meanwhile, world No. 1 ranked Brad Gushue of St. John’s, N.L., goes up against Saskatoon’s Bruce Korte on opening night (Jan. 3, 7 p.m. CT). Korte, who was granted the sponsor’s exemption, won the first Masters title during the inaugural 2001-02 GSOC season.

Elsewhere, recent Canada Cup winner Reid Carruthers of Winnipeg clashes with American John Shuster and Saskatoon’s Steve Laycock meets Edmonton’s Brendan Bottcher to kick off the Meridian Canadian Open.

The women’s division begins with a rematch of the Boost National final with Winnipeg’s Kerri Einarson set for Silvana Tirinzoni of Switzerland in Draw 1. Einarson earned her first career Grand Slam title with the win over Tirinzoni earlier this month in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.

Defending women’s champ Rachel Homan of Ottawa faces Jacqueline Harrison in another all-Ontario battle to headline Draw 2 (Jan. 4, 8 a.m. CT). Harrison’s team from Mississauga also grabbed a spot at the event by capturing the Tour Challenge Tier 2.

Brad Jacobs, fresh off of winning the Boost National in his hometown, plays Kyle Smith of Scotland to lead the action in Draw 3 (Jan. 4, 11:30 a.m. CT).

The Meridian Canadian Open features 16 men’s teams and 16 women’s teams in triple knockout bracket preliminary rounds. Under this format, all teams start in the A bracket, with winners staying put and losers dropping to the B bracket. From there teams continue to battle in the B side while the losers fall to the C bracket. It’s go-big-or-go-home in the C side as winners move on and losers are eliminated. Basically, teams must win three games before they lose three in order to qualify for the playoffs.

Two teams advance to the playoffs from the A bracket, three teams advance from the B bracket and three teams advance from the C bracket.

Teams at the Meridian Canadian Open also compete for Rogers Grand Slam Cup points with the top four in both divisions earning bonuses following the conclusion of the WestJet Players’ Championship in April.

Both winning teams also earn berths to the season-ending Humpty’s Champions Cup running April 25-30 in Calgary.

Tickets are available for the Meridian Canadian Open, click here to purchase yours today or call 306-445-7827.