It's the last call to claim a spot for the GSOC Co-op Invitational in Victoria.
While you can still buy tickets to attend here, curlers who want to play in the tournament have one last chance this weekend to punch their tickets for the first Grand Slam of Curling event of the season, taking place Oct. 13-18 at Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre.
The final spots in the men's and women's divisions will be determined at the Prestige Hotels and Resorts Curling Classic, starting Thursday and running through to Monday in Vernon, B.C.
Stream the Prestige Hotels and Resorts Curling Classic live on CurlingZone.
From Vernon to Victoria, here is a look at the teams aiming to qualify for the GSOC Co-op Invitational, plus other tidbits to know.
FIRST END: The Prestige Hotels and Resorts Curling Classic is part of the new Satellite Events series. In case you missed it, the Grand Slam of Curling has partnered with select tour events this season to create new avenues for teams to qualify for the top-flight series.
The GSOC competition committee picked the first 12 men’s and 12 women’s teams for the Co-op Invitational, with the final four spots in both divisions reserved for Satellite qualifiers.
Remember, teams don’t necessarily have to win the event to secure a spot. If the champion has already qualified, the berth passes to the next eligible team from the Satellite tournament.
Euro Super Series semifinalists Team Orrin Carson and Team Giulia Zardini Lacedelli, AMJ Shorty Jenkins Classic finalist Team John Epping and semifinalist Team Miyu Ueno, and Karuizawa International finalists Team Takumi Maeda and Team Bo-bae Kang qualified for the GSOC Co-op Invitational through the Satellite Events series.
SECOND END: Both men's and women's divisions in the Prestige Hotels and Resorts Curling Classic feature 24 teams.
While the men's teams will play in a triple knockout, the women's teams are grouped into four pools of six for the preliminary round.
Only two men's teams and four women's teams in the tournament have qualified for the GSOC Co-op Invitational, leaving the door wide open.
Teams that advance to the playoffs will also earn points toward qualification for the GSOC Players' Cup, the fifth and final Grand Slam of the season.
Men’s Division: Abe, Blandford, Cotter, Hall, Hösli, Humbke, Jacques, Jeong, Kobayashi, Kopytko, Krell, Lee, Libbus, Maeda*, McDonald, Miki, Montgomery, Nillson, K. Schwaller, Tardi, Tolley, Van Amsterdam, Wakefield, Yamaguchi*
Women’s Division: Cowan, Daniels, Duncan, Gim*, Gray-Withers, Hafeli, Harris, Kang*, J. Kim, Kitazawa, MacMillan, Miura, Nihira, Njegovan, Park, Powell, Prokopowich, Reese-Hansen*, Shantz, Skrlik, Sturmay, Ueno*, Wark, Wilson
* Team is already in the GSOC Co-op Invitational.
THIRD END: Will the third time be the charm for Team Marco Hösli to punch a ticket to the GSOC Co-op Invitational? Hösli went winless through the Euro Super Series and fell in the semifinals of the AMJ Shorty Jenkins Classic in a bid to qualify through those Satellite tournaments.
At No. 11 in the world, the Swiss squad is the highest-ranked team in the men’s division that doesn't have a spot in the GSOC Co-op Invitational yet.
Now about the word "yet."
Hösli is coming off a runner-up finish at the Okotoks Classic, losing to Team Matt Dunstone 5-4 in an extra end. Another strong result like that could be good enough to finally get in.
FOURTH END: The Battle of Alberta is heating up, and no, we’re not talking about the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames. Alberta's top three women's teams are competing in the Prestige Hotels and Resorts Curling Classic, and all three are looking for a spot in the GSOC Co-op Invitational.
Edmonton's Team Serena Gray-Withers and Team Selena Sturmay, plus Calgary’s Team Kayla Skrlik, appear to be a triple threat.
The reigning Alberta champ Sturmay defeated Gray-Withers 6-5 in the final of the Asham Icebreaker in Morris, Manitoba, to kick off their seasons. Gray-Withers turned the tables with a 6-5 extra-end victory on a steal in the Saville Shootout final on home ice. We're still awaiting the championship rubber match. Sturmay picked up a second title of the season at the Saville Grand Prix, with Gray-Withers falling in the semifinals on the other side of the bracket.
Meanwhile, Skrlik has been chipping away on the Ontario tour stops, with back-to-back quarterfinal finishes at the Stu Sells Oakville Tankard and AMJ Shorty Jenkins Classic. Her team was a bit unfortunate, entering the playoffs undefeated both times and scoring wins over eventual champion Team Alina Pätz along the way.
There might be more at stake than just the GSOC Co-op Invitational berth. The teams could parlay an exceptional result here into a potential sponsor’s invitation for the GSOC Masters closer to home in Medicine Hat, Alberta.
FIFTH END: It’s early, but the top Canadian men's club in year-to-date points right now is Team Jordon McDonald from Winnipeg.
McDonald, who sits No. 4 in the YTD world rankings, finished runner-up at the Stu Sells Oakville Tankard and reached the semifinals of the Okotoks Classic. Both of those events are Satellite qualifiers, just not for the GSOC Co-op Invitational.
While McDonald plays the waiting game for those two, a ticket to the GSOC Co-op Invitational is well within reach here.
SIXTH END: Could Tyler Tardi win his way into playing a homecoming Grand Slam with his new squad?
Tardi, who is originally from B.C. and now lives in Calgary, linked up with Colton Flasch, Kevin Marsh and Dan Marsh ahead of the season.
The Saskatoon-based squad reached the quarterfinals at the Saville Shootout on debut but came up short at the Okotoks Classic last weekend. Team Tardi started well with back-to-back wins to reach the A-qualifiers, but the "Green Machines" started leaking oil and lost three straight games to miss the playoffs. A Grand Slam berth on the line may help motivate Team Tardi.
SEVENTH END: South Korea's Team You-been Park and Japan's Team Ikue Kitazawa are the highest-ranked women’s teams in Vernon that haven’t already qualified for the GSOC Co-op Invitational.
Park, No. 11 in the world, took over Seung-youn Ha's Chuncheon City Hall club and earned silver at the Korean championships in June. She also finished runner-up at the Saville Grand Prix to Sturmay, and won the Curling1spoon Elite 8 event in South Korea. If Park qualifies, the GSOC Co-op Invitational would be her series debut.
Kitazawa just missed out on a berth through the Karuizawa International, losing to eventual champ Team Isabella Wranå in the semifinals. The world No. 12 Team Kitazawa then fell to the new Team Ha in the third-place game. Kitazawa, who played in three Grand Slam majors last season, won the Argo Graphics Cup last month in Japan.
EIGHTH END: If not Hösli, there’s another young Swiss squad buzzing on tour early this season. Kim Schwaller and his crew came close to qualifying through the Euro Super Series as quarterfinalists. Had Schwaller won that match over Stefano Spiller, his team would have earned enough points to surpass Carson and qualify as the higher-ranked semifinalist.
Schwaller followed that up with a title win at the KW Fall Classic in Waterloo, but missed the playoffs at the Stu Sells Oakville Tankard during the team’s tour of Ontario last month.
