McEwen’s Olympic bid comes to an end with semi-final loss to Dunstone

Saskatchewan’s Mike McEwen rink fell 9–5 in the semifinal, ending their Olympic hopes.

Mike McEwen’s Olympic hopes have been crushed by a 9-5 loss to Matt Dunstone in the Montana’s Canadian Olympic Trials semi-finals.

Dunstone used a crucial miss by McEwen, who curls out of Saskatoon’s Nutana Curling Club, in the sixth to his advantage to score three, jumping out to the lead and not looking back.

McEwen was forced to take a single in the eighth end. After Dunstone converted with another deuce in the ninth, McEwen needed three points just to force an extra end.

Facing a tough angle-double with Dunstone holding both first and second shot stones, McEwen couldn’t get enough weight to kick out all the yellows and tie, ending his bid to represent Canada at the 2026 Olympics.

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Dunstone’s rink, which plays out of the Granite Curling Club in Winnipeg, is currently the top-ranked team in Canada. Thursday’s victory advanced Dunstone to his first trials final of his career.

Waiting for him is Brad Jacobs, the No. 2 ranked team in Canada. The Calgary rink is coming off a tournament-leading 6-1 week, which gave it a bye to the final.

The format will see a best-of-three series with the winner earning the right to don the Maple Leaf at the Olympics in Milano-Cortina, Italy in February.

Game 1 is set for Friday at 5 p.m. SK time on TSN.

Hometown girls take on Homan Empire in women’s final

On the women’s side of the bracket, Halifax’s Christina Black advanced to the final, defeating Kerri Einarson 6-3 in Thursday’s semi-finals.

Einarson entered the contest with eight consecutive victories over Black in previous head-to-head play.

Black’s reward is facing the top-ranked women’s team in the world: Rachel Homan.

Team Homan, who are the reigning women’s world curling champions, earned the No. 1 seed with a 6-1 record during the tournament. Black finished the round-robin with a 4-3 record.

This year’s tournament is Black’s first appearance at the trials.

Game 1 of the best-of-three is scheduled for Friday at 11 a.m. SK time on TSN.