Two players will be pursuing history when the 2024 Canadian Wheelchair Curling Championship gets underway Sunday at the Moose Jaw Curling Centre in Moose Jaw, Sask.

Dating back to the event’s inception in 2004, four players share the record for national championship victories (four) at the Canadian Wheelchair Curling Championship, and a pair of them will be on the ice this year in Moose Jaw, looking to become the first five-time winners in event history.

Skip Gil Dash and vice-skip Marie Wright of defending champions, and Moose Jaw hometown favourites, Team Saskatchewan #1 will take aim at their record-breaking fifth Canadian titles; they share the current record with Saskatchewan’s Darwin Bender and B.C.’s Frank LaBounty.

Ten of the 11 competing teams will be on the ice for the first draw of the 2024 Canadian Wheelchair Curling Championship Sunday at 3 p.m. (all times CST).

Dash will be carrying the momentum of a strong performance earlier this month at the World Wheelchair Curling Championship in Gangneung, South Korea, where he teamed with Ina Forrest, Mark Ideson, Jon Thurston, alternate Chrissy Molnar and coach Kyle Paquette to win a silver medal.

Forrest also will be in Moose Jaw as a member of Team B.C., hailing from the Kelowna, Richmond and Vernon Curling Clubs and skipped by three-time national champ Gerry Austgarden, looking for her first national championship.

Also in the field will be Dennis Thiessen, skip of Team Manitoba from Winnipeg, who teamed with Collinda Joseph and coach Dana Ferguson at the World Wheelchair Mixed Doubles Curling Championship in Gangneung, where they finished out of the playoffs with a 2-4 record. Thiessen and Forrest are members of the Canadian Curling Hall of Fame.

Also in the field will be Team Alberta #1 (Calgary) skipped by Martin Purvis, Team Alberta #2 (Edmonton) skipped by Don Kuchelyma, Team New Brunswick (Saint John) skipped by Mike Fitzgerald, Team Newfoundland/Labrador (St. John’s) skipped by Cecilia Carroll, Team Ontario #1 (Schomberg) skipped by Doug Morris, Team Ontario #2 (Toronto) skipped by Chris Rees, Team Quebec (Magog) skipped by Carl Marquis and Team Saskatchewan #2 (Moose Jaw) skipped by Rod Pederson.

The teams will play a full 10-game round robin with two draws a day beginning Monday and concluding on Friday, March 29. The top three teams will make the playoffs, with the first-place team advancing directly to the gold-medal game Saturday, March 30, at 2:30 p.m., while the second- and third-place teams will meet in the semifinal on March 30 at 10 a.m.

Day- and full-event passes are available for the 2024 Canadian Wheelchair Curling Championship and can be purchased by CLICKING HERE.

Select games are available to watch on Curling Canada’s streaming platform Curling Canada+ (https://plus.curling.ca/). 

For scores, team lineups, schedule information and latest news from the championship, visit the event website, www.curling.ca/2024wheelchair.

For further information:

Lisa Weagle
National Wheelchair Curling Program Communications and Media Relations Manager
Curling Canada
(613) 889-0768
lisa.weagle@curling.ca

Al Cameron
Director, Communication & Media Relations
Curling Canada
(403) 463-5500
acameron@curling.ca

Kyle Jahns
Manager, Communication and Media Relations
Curling Canada
(204) 803-8221
kyle.jahns@curling.ca

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