U-25 PLAYOFF MATCHUPS SET
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EIGHT TEAMS REMAIN IN EDMONTON’S U-25 NEXTGEN CLASSIC
And then there were eight…
Following two six-team round robins for each gender, the playoff picture at the U-25 NextGen Curling Classic became clear Thursday, as the final results came in.
On the men’s side Calgary’s Team Cole Adams and Kitchener, Ont.’s Team Sam Mooibroek took the Pool 1 playoff berths, both going 4-1 in the group stage.
London, Ont.’s Jayden King went 5-0 in Pool 2, while Winnipeg’s Jordan McDonald took the second spot with a 4-1 record.
In the playoffs on Friday, King will face Mooibroek. Both teams played in the Ontario Men’s provincial championship last year, with King losing the final to Team Scott Howard.
Adams will face McDonald in the other semifinal.
In the women’s event, another Ontario team punched their ticket to the playoffs. Emma Artichuk, playing with a new team out of Sudbury, Ont., celebrated her 22nd birthday with an undefeated run through the group, finishing in top spot with a 5-0 record.
The battle for second was between two promising young Edmonton-based teams, with Team Serena Gray-Withers taking down Team Myla Plett in the last end. Plett was looking good to score two in the eighth end for the win, but was a bit heavy on a guard attempt which tapped the Gray-Withers stone into a spot which would turn out to be immovable. Gray-Withers stole the win, and the playoff berth.
In Pool 2, Victoria’s Team Taylor Reese-Hansen ran the table to claim top spot with a perfect 5-0 record. They’ll face Team Gray-Withers in one semifinal.
The final playoff spot was claimed by Edmonton’s Team Gracelyn Richards who finished the round robin at 3-2. They move forward by virtue of the head-to-head tiebreaker over Sudbury’s Isabelle Ladouceur.
Semis and finals will take place on Friday, and later on, the third phase (following men’s and women’s) of the U-25 NextGen Classic will kick off – with the mixed doubles starting at 6:30 pm MT.
Men’s and women’s Champions not only receive a berth in the 2024 PointsBet Invitational (September 25-29,2024 in Calgary), they also receive $6,000 in NextGen funding which includes opportunities to work with national coaches and other experts. Runners-up take home $4,000.
All games will be streamed on the Curling Stadium Youtube channel found here: https://www.youtube.com/@CurlingZone
Scores and draws can be found at http://curling.ca/scoreboard