Ottawa’s Rachel Homan secured her spot in the women’s final, and Calgary’s Brad Jacobs advanced in the men’s category, while St. John’s skip Brad Gushue was knocked out after a critical miss during the 2025 Montana’s Canadian Curling Trials.
Homan narrowly defeated Kerri Einarson of Gimli, Manitoba, by a score of 7-6 on Wednesday, securing the top spot in the women’s round-robin phase.
Both teams ended the preliminary rounds with 6-1 records, but Homan secured a direct route to the best-of-three final by defeating Einarson head-to-head.
“Our initial goal this week was to reach the final,” said Homan. “The competition is fierce, and we needed a strong performance today to secure our spot in the final. I am immensely proud of the team for their determination.”
Jacobs earned his place in the final earlier with a 6-2 victory over Matt Dunstone from Winnipeg. The 2014 Olympic champion topped the men’s leaderboard with a 6-1 record after also overcoming 2006 gold medalist Gushue in the final round-robin match on Wednesday.
Gushue, in his last competitive season, failed to deliver a crucial shot in the 10th end, missing the opportunity to score three points with the hammer, trailing 5-3, resulting in his elimination from the Canadian Trials playoffs for the first time in his career.
“Jacobs played exceptionally well tonight, and it was a great team effort. We had a fantastic day, probably our best as a team in terms of performance and execution,” Jacobs commented on the victory.
Dunstone and Gushue tied for the third spot with 4-3 records, but Dunstone advanced due to his earlier head-to-head victory over Gushue during the round-robin phase.
Dunstone is set to face Mike McEwen from Saskatoon in the men’s semifinal on Thursday night. McEwen, who defeated Gushue 9-7 and Dunstone 9-5, will make his first playoff appearance in eight years after finishing as a runner-up in 2017.
On the women’s side, Homan secured a 7-4 lead with two points in the eighth end, but Einarson fought back with single points in the last two ends. Einarson is set to compete against local favorite Christina Black in the Thursday semifinal, with the final scheduled for Friday.
Black, after scoring three points in the 10th end for a 10-6 win over Kate Cameron, advanced to the semifinal by having the best cumulative last stone draw ranking among the tied teams with Winnipeg’s Kaitlyn Lawes and Edmonton’s Selena Sturmay.
The ultimate champions of the men’s and women’s events will earn a direct bye to the best-of-three final, while the second and third-placed teams will contest a knockout semifinal. The victors of the tournament will represent Canada at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina, Italy.