The 2021 Canadian Olympic Curling Trials in Saskatoon are wrapping up with championship Sunday, with SaskTel Centre calling the tournament a success. “I think our numbers are great,” Scott Ford, executive director of Sasktel Centre, said. “Were going to have over 100,000 tickets issued, so great crowds throughout the week.” On Sunday afternoon, Jennifer Jones stole a point in the 11th end of the women’s final to beat Tracy Fleury 6-5, earning the right to represent Canada at the 2022 Wintery Olympics in Beijing. Brad Gushue and Brad Jacobs meet in the men’s final on Sunday night. Despite the only Saskatchewan rink in the spiel—team Matt Dunstone—missing out on the playoffs, Ford said the Bridge City was the perfect place to hold the event considering the pandemic is still ongoing. “Saskatoon has always been classified as one of the hot curling markets in all of Canada,” Ford said. “We know coming out of a pandemic that the numbers—theres going to be some attrition, so I dont think anybody expected the numbers to be break any attendance records.” He said the attendance was very good considering this is the first multi-day, national event outside of a COVID-19 bubble format for Curling Canada, adding SaskTel Centre, the host organizing committee and Curling Canada are pleased.
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