Kayla Skrlik of Alberta and Andrea Kelly of New Brunswick won their respective women’s curling championship finals on Sunday to enter the Tournament of Hearts of Scotland.

They were joined by Clancy Grandy (BC), Kerry Galusha (Northwest Territories), Laurie St-Georges (Quebec), Brigitte MacPhail (Nunavut) from Nunavut, Hailey Birnie (Yukon) and defending champion Kerri Einarson from Gimli., Man., in between the existing teams qualified for the February 17-26 national championship in Kamloops, BC

Kelly doubled down on Abby Burgess 10-5 in Sunday’s final to go unbeaten at Fredericton.

His team included a third Sylvie Quillian, both Jill Brothers and lead Katie Forward.

Kelly will pass New Brunswick in the Canadian women’s championships for the 11th time in her curling career.

He won a bronze medal last year in Thunder Bay, Ont., for the best finish of his career.

Skrlik beat Casey Scheidegger 9-8 in Wetaskiwin to win Alberta.

Dropping a point on the hammer home, Skrlik executed a tricky double takeout to score twice for the win.

Skrlik, deputy Geri-Lynn Ramsay, second Brittany Tran and Calgary Curling Club’s Ashton Skrlik went undefeated in their provincial championships.

The Skrlik brothers will be making their Hearts debut.

Curling Canada resumed an 18-team field for both men’s and women’s national championships in 2024 after a two-year format.

Wild card entries increase from one to three starting in 2021, and are determined by the top three teams that do not qualify in Curling Canada’s ranking system (CTRS).

Hearts and Tim Hortons Brier wild cards will be named when provincial and territorial representation is determined.

Einarson, Ontario’s Rachel Homan and six-time national champion Jennifer Jones of Manitoba ranked first to third Sunday in the CTRS, but wild cards will come from deeper down the women’s rankings as Einarson already automatically steps into Hearts as the reigning champion.

Homan and Jones will also be competing in their respective provincial championships this week.

Jones’ third ex, Kaitlyn Lawes, ranked fourth Sunday at CTRS followed by already-qualified Grandy and Scheidegger in sixth.

The provincial finals in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Northern Ontario, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador are January 29 and Nova Scotia on January 30.

The winner of Hearts will represent Canada at the world championships March 18-26 in Sandviken, Sweden.

Field for the men’s national championships March 3-12 in London, Ontario, partially filled by Jacques Gauthier (BC), Felix Asselin (Quebec), Thomas Scoffin (Yukon), Jake Higgs (Nunavut) and defending champion Brad Gushue of St John’s, NL

Ontario, Northern Ontario, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador ended their son provinces on January 29 and Nova Scotia on January 30.

Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Northwest Territories and New Brunswick will hold their men’s provincial and territorial championships in February.

Brendan Bottcher of Alberta, Matt Dunstone of Manitoba, Gushue, Kevin Koe of Alberta and Reid Carruthers of Manitoba finished first to fifth in the men’s CTRS standings, respectively.

Champion Brier will wear the Maple Leaf at the men’s world championships April 1-9 in Ottawa.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on January 22, 2023.