News Canadian Open

Full-event and weekend passes are now available for the Meridian Canadian Open in North Battleford, Sask.

The fifth event and third major of the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling season returns to Civic Centre from Jan. 8-13, 2019.

Give the gift of curling this holiday season, purchase your pass by visiting 2019canadianopen.goigniter.com.

The Meridian Canadian Open features 16 of the best men’s teams and 16 of the best women’s teams from around the world. Triple knockout is used for 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.

Team Elena Stern of Switzerland and Saskatoon’s own Team Kirk Muyres earned their spots by winning the Tour Challenge Tier 2 titles in early November.

“This one’s marked on the calendar,” Muyres said after winning the championship. “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’s 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 final.

Single draw tickets will be available Dec. 1.