Fleury, Dunstone qualify for 2020 Humpty’s Champions Cup
UPDATE: Sportsnet and the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling have cancelled the 2020 Humpty’s Champions Cup.
Masters champions Tracy Fleury and Matt Dunstone have now secured their spots in the 2020 Humpty’s Champions Cup.
The sixth and final Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling event of the season runs April 29 to May 3 at the Olds Sportsplex in Olds, Alta.
Teams must win a high-profile title in order to receive an invitation.
Dunstone defeated Team Brad Gushue of St. John’s, N.L., 8-5 during Sunday’s Masters men’s final in North Bay, Ont., to capture his first career Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling title. Fleury also earned her first championship in the series with a 7-5 decision over Japan’s Team Sayaka Yoshimura.
It’s never too early to start thinking about the Humpty’s Champions Cup as teams are looking to secure their spots ASAP so they’re not left scrambling for a last-minute invite.
No one knows that better than Fleury, who will compete in her first Humpty’s Champions Cup. Despite consistently ranking within the top 10 in the world, Fleury hadn’t won a tournament as big as the Masters before and had been left on the outside looking in.
“I’m looking forward to it,” Fleury said. “It’s always fun to try a new event and I’ve heard good things about it, so we’re excited.”
Dunstone joked about taking the rest of the year off now and just playing in the last one.
“It’s super cool and to get it this way especially,” Dunstone said. “Last year we got in through the DEKALB (Superspiel), I mean that’s obviously not the same prestige as something like the Masters. To do it this way, in this fashion, make it even sweeter.”
Dunstone joins Edmonton’s Brendan Bottcher (2019 Players’ Championship) and Calgary’s Kevin Koe (2018-19 Pinty’s Cup) in the men’s field while Fleury adds her name to the list that includes Team Kerri Einarson of Gimli, Man., (2019 Players’ Championship) and Switzerland’s Team Silvana Tirinzoni (2019 Humpty’s Champions Cup).
A total of 12 men’s teams and 12 women’s teams will compete in the Humpty’s Champions Cup.
Tournament packages are now available for the 2020 Humpty’s Champions Cup, visit thegrandslamofcurling.com/tickets to learn how to purchase yours today.
2020 Humpty’s Champions Cup qualifying events
- 2019 Players’ Championship
- 2019 Humpty’s Champions Cup
- 2019 Masters
- 2019 KIOTI Tractor Tour Challenge (Tier 1)
- 2019 BOOST National
- 2020 Meridian Canadian Open
- 2019 European Championship
- 2019 Pacific-Asia Championship
- 2020 Tim Hortons Brier/Scotties Tournament of Hearts
- 2020 U.S. National Championship
- 2020 World Junior Championship
- 2020 World Championship
Note: In the event of duplicate winners of the qualifying events, World Curling Tour event winners will be invited based on the strength of field of the event. In the event that a single team wins both the Players’ Championship and Humpty’s Champions Cup in the previous season, the Pinty’s Cup winners from that season will be awarded a spot. In the event that the same team wins all three, a winning team from a top WCT event based on strength of field will be invited to participate.
