Curling’s elite gather for Humpty’s Cup
Hometown favourite Koe coming off victory over reigning world champion
All the kings horses and all the kings men ...
Well, the Humpty’s Champions Cup lineup is pretty much all the kings — and queens — of the current curling campaign.
And they ’re all bringing the horses for the grand finale of the 201718 Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling season, beginning Tuesday at 7 p.m. at WinSport Arena.
The best and brightest curling stars from around the globe are in Calgary for the six-day event. In fact, the who’s who field is comprised of 15 men’s and 15 women’s teams who have claimed victory this season. The 30 teams will compete in a round-robin style bonspiel, contending for a combined $250,000 purse.
Among the kings coming is hometown champion Kevin Koe, fresh off a win last week at the Players’ Championship in Toronto.
Team Koe, out of The Glencoe Club, claimed its first Grand Slam title of the season with a 6-2 victory over reigning world champion Team Edin of Sweden. With the win, Team Koe pocketed $30,000 of the $150,000 men’s purse and secured a berth in the Humpty’s Champions Cup.
“I could feel a little bit of adrenalin and I was just happy to be able to have this opportunity to be with the boys,” said third Marc Kennedy of the victory.
“We’ve had an incredible fouryear run. I know we have one more event, but (the Players’ Championship) was the big one we wanted to win.”
Koe, who hails from Calgary, opens play against Winnipeg’s Jason Gunnlaugson.
Players’ Championship women’s winner Jamie Sinclair, who made history as the first American to become a grand slam champ, is also in action on opening night against Olympic gold medallist Anna Hasselborg of Sweden.
Chelsea Carey of Calgary collides with Japan’s Satsuki Fujisawa, Scotland’s Eve Muirhead meets Delia DeJong of Grande Prairie and Saskatoon’s Colton Flasch faces Marc Pfister of Switzerland to round out the first draw.
Round-robin action runs through to Friday, with teams split into three pools, and the top eight overall qualifying for the weekend playoffs.
Draws go at 8:30 a.m., noon, 4 p.m. and 8 p.m.
The exceptional pool of talent for the Humpty’s also includes nine-time Grand Slam champions Team Jones ( Winnipeg ) and Team Gushue (St. John’s, N.L.), Canadian Olympic representatives Team Homan (Ottawa) and world junior champions Team Tardi (Langley, B.C.) and Team K. Jones (Halifax, N.S.).
The Humpty’s Champions Cup is the seventh — and final — stop on the season’s grand-slam circuit.