$100,000 up for grabs in 2023 Western Showdown

One of the biggest curling events in Canada this season starts tonight with the 2023 edition of the Nutrien Ag Solutions Western Showdown at the Swift Current Curling Club. 

A total of 38 men’s and women’s curling teams will be competing for a total prize pool of $100,000, with last year’s winning teams skipped by Niklas Edin from Sweden and Silvana Tirinzoni of Switzerland returning to defend their championships. 

The 18-team men’s triple-knockout event also includes former Western Showdown champion and four-time Brier champion Kevin Koe, and former Manitoba and Ontario provincial champion Mike McEwen, who is now curling out of the Nutana Curling Club in Saskatoon. Other Saskatchewan teams include Carl deConnick Smith and his rink from Fox Valley, Saskatoon’s Rylan Kleiter, and seven-time SaskTel Tankard champion Steve Laycock curling with the Swift Current Curling Club’s Shaun Meachem and Chris Haichert, who won the Canadian Mixed Curling Championship on home ice last month. Top international men’s teams at the event include Michael Brunner, Marco Hoesli and Yannick Schwaller of Switzerland, Jongduk Park of Korea, Riku Yanagisawa of Japan and Korey Dropkin of the USA. 

On the women’s side, the 20-team round-robin event features Olympic gold medalist Anna Hasselborg and Isabella Wrana, both from Sweden, and Italy’s Stefania Constantini, who won Olympic Mixed Doubles gold in Beijing in 2022. Top-ranked Korean teams skipped by Eunjung Kim and Eun ji Gim will also be competing along with Zhuo Han form China, Satsuki Fugisawa from Japan and Michele Jaeggi, Corrie Huerlimann and Xenia Schwaller from Switzerland. 

Defending Viterra Scotties Champion Robyn Silvernagle will be competing with Kelly Schafer, coming off a Canadian Mixed Championship, on her team once again. Other Saskatchewan skips include former Scotties champion Amber Holland, and provincial champions Penny Barker and Michelle Englot join other top Canadian teams including Kerry Galusha of the Northwest Territories, Hollie Duncan of Ontario, BC’s Corryn Brown and Clancy Grandy, and Jolene Campbell, who is now curling out of Winnipeg. 

The opening draw is at 7:30pm on Wednesday night with five draws per day on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and then the playoffs and championship games on Sunday. Admission is $20 per day or $50 for the full event, and the games will also be available to stream for free on the Swift Current Curling Club YouTube channel.