Winnipeg’s Jennifer Jones and Ottawa’s Rachel Homan are among those who received invitations Friday to the 2020 Humpty’s Champions Cup.
The Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling season finale — running April 29 to May 3 in Olds, Alta. — features 12 of the top men’s teams and 12 of the top women’s teams from around the world who have won high-profile titles.
Two men’s berths and three women’s berths opened up as a result of Brad Jacobs of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., and Sweden’s Anna Hasselborg winning multiple qualifying events. Both have won the past three Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling titles with Hasselborg also earning gold at the European Championships.
Jones, who won the inaugural Humpty’s Champions Cup in 2016, was selected for her team’s victory at the Shorty Jenkins Classic while Homan, a winner of a record 10 GSOC women’s titles, earned her spot for capturing the Canada Cup. It’ll be a homecoming of sorts for Team Jones second Jocelyn Peterman, who is originally from nearby Red Deer, Alta.
Toronto’s John Epping also earned an invitation for his Canada Cup win on the men’s side while Bruce Mouat of Scotland booked his Humpty’s Champions Cup spot for taking the Perth Masters.
Elena Stern of Switzerland rounded out the batch for winning the Canad Inns Women’s Classic.
Earlier 2020 Humpty’s Champions Cup qualifiers include Edmonton’s Brendan Bottcher (Players’ Championship), Calgary’s Kevin Koe (Pinty’s Cup), Regina’s Matt Dunstone (Masters), Chang-Min Kim of South Korea (Pacific-Asia Championships) and Niklas Edin of Sweden (European Championships) for the men’s division and Kerri Einarson of Gimli, Man., (Players’ Championship), Switzerland’s Silvana Tirinzoni (defending Humpty’s Champions Cup winner), Tracy Fleury of East St. Paul, Man., (Masters) and China’s Yu Han (Pacific-Asia Championships).
Bottcher is the event’s defending champion on the men’s side and his double win in the series to wrap up last season opened up a spot for Pinty’s Cup champion Koe.
Only four spots remain in both men’s and women’s divisions, which will be awarded to the Canadian national champions (Tim Hortons Brier and Scotties Tournament of Hearts), U.S. national champions, world junior champions and world champions. Should a team that has already been selected also win one of those events, additional tour event winners (based on the strength of field list) will receive an invitation.
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