CANADIAN JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS

STRONG FIELD SET FOR CANADIAN JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS

CCA) - The M&M Meat Shops Canadian junior men's and women's curling championships will be played February 1-8 in Salmon Arm, British Columbia. Thirteen men's and 13 women's teams (representing the 10 provinces plus Northern Ontario, Northwest Territories and Yukon) are set to compete.

Among the teams confirmed are, on the women's side, defending champion skip Kaitlyn Lawes of Manitoba and 2007 Canada Winter Games gold medallist Rachel Homan of Ontario, while Prince Edward Island's Brett Gallant, Canadian junior runner-up in 2007 and third place finisher last year, tops the men's field. At the conclusion of the round robin, the first place teams advance to their respective finals, while the second and third place finishers meet in semi-finals on Saturday.

Both the women's and men's finals will be played on Sunday, February 8 at the Sunwave Centre and will be televised live across Canada on TSN. The women's final takes place at 2:30pm et/11:30am pt while the men's final begins at 7:00pm et/4:00pm pt.

The winners will then represent Canada at the 2009 world junior curling championships, March 5-15 in Vancouver. Canada has won a leading 16 world junior men's titles since 1975 and eight women's crowns since 1988. Last year in Sault Ste. Marie, Quebec's William Dion and Manitoba's Kaitlyn Lawes won Canadian titles, then travelled to Ostersund, Sweden for the 2008 world juniors, where they both earned bronze medals.
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