News Tour Challenge

Don’t call it a comeback, triple knockout has been here for years.

Although the format is common on tour — and was used throughout the Grand Slam of Curling when the series started 23 years ago — there’s one simple rule to remember: Teams must win three games before they lose three games to advance to the playoffs.

All teams are seeded based on rankings in one of two brackets in the A Event. Winning teams remain in their current bracket while each loss drops teams to a lower bracket until they reach three losses (i.e. when they lose in the C Event).

Two teams from the A Event (3-0 records), three teams from the B Event (3-1 records) and three teams from the C Event (3-2 records) qualify for the playoffs.

What makes triple knockout interesting is a team could breeze through the A Event and reach the playoffs in only three games (and earn a day of rest) or they could end up grinding it out and play up to two more games through the C Event. The latter isn’t necessarily a bad thing as sometimes teams play better with their backs against the wall plus learning more about the ice and the rocks in play with one or two extra games could aid them in the playoffs.

Also, with the 16-team triple knockout, teams are always playing against another team with an identical record making every match an intriguing battle. As long as you’re still playing, you’re still in it. There are no games where a team has already been eliminated and is just playing for pride nor do teams have to worry about possible tiebreaker scenarios as winning alone will control their destiny.