Shorty Jenkins Classic offers Olympic qualifying points

By Shawna O`Neill, with files from Nick Seebruch
Shorty Jenkins Classic offers Olympic qualifying points
Jennifer Jones and Kaitlyn Lawes at the 2011 Scotties Tournament of Hearts. Curling Canada photo.

CORNWALL, Ontario – In its fifth fantastic year, organizers have already registered over 90 teams for the Shorty Jenkins Classic, held from Wednesday, Sept. 11 to Sunday, Sept. 15 at the Cornwall Curling Centre.

Champion curlers from around the world will be in attendance this year, especially as this is the first time locally that teams can accumulate points towards qualifying for the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing. 

Spectators are recommended to purchase tickets in advance and attend early as the seating capacity of the venue caps out at 250 guests, and many are expected to be in attendance watching all of the action.

“Teams are going to be starting to arrive Sunday (Sept. 8) night. Things are ready to go…the ice is ready to go, people will practice on Monday (Sept. 9). Anyone is welcome to watch teams practicing, free of charge,” said organizer Kevin Baker, who believes the event is shaping up to be one of the best ever. “The organizing committee is looking forward to the event.”

“This year…attracted (Women’s) teams such as Jennifer Jones, Rachel Homan, Tracy Fleury, Eve Muirhead (Scotland), Anna Hasselborg (Sweden), Jamie Sinclair (US), while the Men’s division will also have the usual stars such as Brad Gushue, Kevin Koe, Glenn Howard, Mike McEwen, John Epping, Brad Jacobs, Thomas Ulsrud (Norway), Bruce Mouat (Scotland) and others,” reads a press release from the Shorty Jenkins Classic organizers.

The team organizing the classic said that it is a boon for Cornwall to host such a prestigious event.

“With a list of participants such as this, the Cornwall event has been dubbed a mini-slam by the World Curling Tour committee.  It would be akin to having the Rogers Cup tennis events that just finished in Montreal and Toronto, taking place here in Cornwall, except that it’s curling,” the press release reads.

“Residents of Cornwall can look forward to seeing the best of the best coming to Cornwall,” said Baker in an interview with Seaway News. “It is pretty exciting for Cornwall to be hosting such an event. There will be 18 of the top male teams in the world coming here.”

Tickets can be purchased at the door or online at shortyjenkinsclassic.com through Eventbrite.

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