Rachel Homan from Ottawa secured her place in the women’s final, while Brad Jacobs from Calgary moved ahead in the men’s competition. In contrast, St. John’s skip Brad Gushue was knocked out after a crucial shot went awry during the 2025 Montana’s Canadian Curling Trials.
On Wednesday, Homan narrowly defeated Kerri Einarson from Gimli, Manitoba, with a score of 7-6, which allowed her to finish first in the women’s round robin.
Both teams concluded the preliminary round with records of 6-1, but Homan claimed the direct route to the best-of-three final thanks to her victory in their direct matchup.
“That was our aim at the start of the week,” Homan remarked. “The competition is incredibly strong, and we needed to bring our best today to reach that final. I’m really proud of the team for their perseverance.”
“[It’s] monumental. There’s no other way to put it. This was a significant match for us to secure a spot in the final and take a little rest [Thursday], practice a bit, and then maintain that momentum as we head into the weekend.”
Earlier in the day, Jacobs secured his bye by defeating Matt Dunstone from Winnipeg with a score of 6-2.
The 2014 Olympic champion topped the men’s standings with a record of 6-1 after also defeating and eliminating 2006 gold medallist Gushue in the last round-robin draw on Wednesday evening.
Gushue, who is in his final competitive season, lost 6-3 to Jacobs in a nail-biting conclusion. Attempting to stay in contention, the seasoned skip missed a critical shot that could have given him three points while trailing 5-3 in the 10th end.
This miss resulted in Gushue not qualifying for the Canadian Trials playoffs for the first time in his career.
“They can be deadly, and he has been that way for most of the last decade — throughout much of his career,” Jacobs stated. “Whenever you have a chance to eliminate a strong team like that, you have to seize the moment. We played exceptionally well tonight; this was our best performance as a team.”
“That gives us a solid advantage heading into the finals.”
Gushue ended up tied with Dunstone for third place at 4-3, but Dunstone advanced due to his earlier win in their direct matchup during the round robin.
Dunstone will take on Mike McEwen from Saskatoon (5-2) in the men’s semifinal on Thursday night. McEwen, who defeated Gushue 9-7 on Wednesday morning, also triumphed over Dunstone 9-5 in the evening match.
This marks his first playoff appearance in eight years after finishing as a runner-up in 2017.
“On opening night, I didn’t bring my best, but we managed to pull through. Since that Saturday, I felt a change. I feel more present now, and I believe the guys draw energy from that,” McEwen shared.
“I’m quite lively. I have good body movement and energy. That benefits the team, and I think it helped us through four tough games to achieve a 5-2 record.”
In Homan’s match, she scored two points in the eighth end to take a 7-4 lead, while Einarson responded with single points in the last two ends.
Einarson will compete against local favorite Christina Black in a semifinal on Thursday, with the final set to take place on Friday.
Black secured a dramatic 10-6 win over Kate Cameron from St. Adolphe, Manitoba, scoring three points in the 10th end. She ended up tied for third at 4-2 alongside Winnipeg’s Kaitlyn Lawes and Edmonton’s Selena Sturmay, advancing due to her superior cumulative last stone draw ranking among the three teams.
The last stone draw is a pre-game event where two players from each team deliver a stone to the center of the house, with the closest stone winning the hammer for the match.
Friends, family and teammates reflect on the life and legacy of Canadian curling legend and longtime CBC reporter Colleen Jones, who died Tuesday from cancer. She was 65.
Black mentioned that a new “curling god” was favoring her, referring to the late Colleen Jones. The iconic curler and long-time broadcaster from Halifax passed away on Tuesday at the age of 65 following a cancer diagnosis in 2023.
“We approached today knowing we had to give it our all — win our match and hope for a favorable outcome,” Black explained. “But we also felt that there’s a new curling god watching over us, and you often hear people say they pray to the curling gods.”
“Well, we now have the best one up there supporting us. She’s doing everything she can, and we’ll give it our all, just as she would have. She’s a warrior who never backs down — throughout her career and life, so we feel like we can achieve this.”
The champions of both the men’s and women’s competitions will receive a bye into their respective best-of-three finals, while the teams finishing second and third will compete in knockout semifinals.
The winners of the tournament will represent Canada at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina, Italy.