The first leg of the men’s 2009-10 Capital One Grand Slam of Curling series, the Masters of Curling will also feature nine international Olympic qualifiers and hopefuls.  The tournament will be contested just four months prior to the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver.

Koe and Ferbey were invited to compete in the 2009 Masters of Curling after securing the final two direct 2009 Canadian Trials berths.  As the reigning Olympic champion, Gushue was extended the final Canadian invitation.

Newly confirmed international entries for the 14-team Masters of Curling field include reigning World Championship gold medallist David Murdoch (Lockerbie, Scotland), the United States’ John Shuster (Chisholm, Minnesota), Sweden’s Niklas Edin (Sundbyberg, Sweden) and Denmark’s Ulrik Schmidt (Copenhagen, Denmark).

Previously confirmed entries for the 2009 Masters of Curling include reigning World Championship bronze medallist Thomas Ulsrud (Oslo, Norway), 2007 World Championship silver medallist Andy Kapp (Unterthingau, Germany) and China’s Fengchun Wang (Harbin, China).  France has also confirmed that their Olympic qualifier will compete in Mississauga while Switzerland will send one of its Vancouver 2010 hopefuls to the event. 

Ticket packages for the Masters of Curling are currently on sale.  Seats are available through Ticketmaster or by visiting the Hershey Centre box office.

The 2009 Masters of Curling is the first major international curling event to be held in the Greater Toronto Area since 1986, when Toronto hosted the World Men’s Curling Championship. 

Held annually since 2001-02, the Capital One Grand Slam of Curling is a series of men’s and women’s events that feature this nation’s deepest and strongest curling fields. 

About Capital One

Located in Toronto, Ontario, Capital One has offered Canadian consumers a range of competitive MasterCard^® credit cards since 1996, when the company first introduced the Platinum MasterCard^® in Canada.  Capital One Canada is a division of Capital One Bank, a subsidiary of Capital One Financial Corporation of McLean, Virginia (NYSE: COF).

About iSport Media and Management

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For more information visit www.isportmedia.com.

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