By Nathan Kanter

Teams announced for Meridian Canadian Open

Dec 14, 2016 | 2:02 PM

All 16 men’s and all 16 women’s teams were announced on Wednesday afternoon for January’s Meridian Canadian Open in North Battleford from Jan. 3 to 8, 2017.

On the men’s side, 12 of the 16 teams are Canadian, highlighted by world number one Brad Gushue of St. John’s, N.L., Brad Jacobs, who just won the Boost National event in Sault Ste. Marie last week on his home turf, and defending Canadian Meridian Open champion John Epping of Toronto.

There will be two Saskatchewan teams competing in the men’s bracket. Steve Laycock of Saskatoon and Bruce Korte of Saskatoon, the latter whom was included because of a sponsor’s exemption.

The men’s international entries are from Scotland, Sweden, and the United States.

On the women’s side, 12 Canadian teams have qualified as well.

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Jennifer Jones of Winnipeg and Rachel Homan of Ottawa highlight the women’s side.

Jones skipped Team Canada to a gold medal at the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, going undefeated in the process. Homan won last year’s Meridian Canadian Open, one of three Grand Slam of Curling tour victories in the 2016 calendar year.

There are no Saskatchewan teams competing in the women’s bracket.

The four women’s international entries are from China, Russia, Sweden, and Switzerland.

The Meridian Canadian Open is a triple knockout round robin, meaning each team must win three games before they lose three games in order to qualify for the playoffs, which will feature eight teams.

The round robin begins Tuesday evening and runs until Saturday morning. Playoffs begin on Saturday, Jan. 7 at noon with the men’s quarterfinals. For the full schedule, click here.

Tickets can still be purchased online, or by calling the North Stars ticket office at 306-445-7827.

The full list of 32 teams can be found here.

Nathan Kanter is battlefordsNOW’s sports reporter and voice of the Battlefords North Stars. He can be reached at Nathan.kanter@jpbg.ca or tweet him @NathanKanter11