Saskatchewan's Kelly Knapp, Northwest Territories' Jamie Koe punch tickets to Brier
Canadian men's curling championship takes place March 3-12 in London, Ont.
Saskatchewan's Kelly Knapp and Jamie Koe of the Northwest Territories won their respective men's provincial and territorial curling finals Sunday to advance to the Tim Hortons Brier.
Knapp edged Steve Laycock 5-4 in Estevan to take Saskatchewan, while Koe was an 11-3 winner over Greg Skauge at the Fort Smith Curling Club to win in N.W.T.
Koe will skip a Territories team at a Canadian men's championship for the 16th time in his curling career, while Knapp is a relative rookie.
Congratulations Team Koe, now Team <a href="https://twitter.com/NWT_Curling?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NWT_Curling</a> at the Tim Hortons Brier!<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Brier2023?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Brier2023</a><br><br>📸: <a href="https://twitter.com/JKnwt?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JKnwt</a> <a href="https://t.co/SS2SSWbpP0">pic.twitter.com/SS2SSWbpP0</a>
—@CurlingCanada
The Saskatchewan skip appeared in one game as an alternate in the 2011 Brier.
Provincial men's championships in Alberta and Manitoba start Tuesday and in New Brunswick on Wednesday.
The Brier's three wild-card entries will come from the top three non-qualified teams in the Canadian Team Rankings System (CTRS) at the conclusion of provincial and territorial championships.
Manitoba's Matt Dunstone, Alberta's Brendan Bottcher, Gushue, Alberta's Kevin Koe and Manitoba's Reid Carruthers ranked first to fifth Sunday.
The Brier champion will wear the Maple Leaf in the world men's championship April 1-9 in Ottawa.