Tim Hortons Brier 2019: Thursday Curling Results, Updated Draw and Schedule

The championship pool round got underway Thursday in the 2019 Tim Hortons Brier at Westoba Place in Brandon, Manitoba.

What had been a 16-team field was whittled down to eight with the conclusion of the round-robin portion.

Those results carried on to the championship round, which was good news for Northern Ontario and Alberta, both of whom are a perfect 7-0. At 6-1, Team Canada and the Wild Card team are positioned well to earn a playoff berth.

Here's a look at Thursday's results and a brief overview of the action.

Thursday Results

Draw 15

Ontario def. Saskatchewan, 7-4

Alberta def. Wild Card, 7-6

Northern Ontario def. British Columbia, 11-5

Canada def. Manitoba, 6-3

Draw 16

Alberta def. Manitoba, 6-5

Ontario def. Northern Ontario, 7-6

Canada def. Saskatchewan, 8-4

Wild Card def. British Columbia, 8-3

Friday Schedule

Draw 17 (3 p.m. ET)

Northern Ontario vs. Canada

British Columbia vs. Manitoba

Ontario vs. Wild Card

Alberta vs. Saskatchewan

Draw 18 (8 p.m. ET)

British Columbia vs. Saskatchewan

Wild Card vs. Canada

Alberta vs. Northern Ontario

Manitoba vs. Ontario

Thursday Recap

Draw 15

Northern Ontario improved to 8-0 after rolling over British Columbia 11-5.

Skip Brad Jacobs and his squad had the victory wrapped up after the eighth end. Although British Columbia earned one point in the eighth, the mountain to tie the score was far too high to climb in the two remaining ends.

Like Northern Ontario, Alberta ran its record to 8-0 but required a lot more drama in order to secure the win.

Alberta trailed the Wild Card team 6-4 entering the 10th and final end after the Wild Card team notched three points over the previous two ends. Alberta had the hammer in the 10th end, which proved to be decisive.

Skip Kevin Koe placed his stone perfectly, knocking out Wild Card's only stone on the board and registering three points for Alberta.

Canada, the defending champion, opened the championship pool with a 6-3 victory over Manitoba.

"You don't get much margin for error when you're playing a well-oiled team like that," Manitoba skip Mike McEwen said, per the Westman Journal's Christopher L. Istace. "I thought there were a lot of good throws on our side. I thought we were dealing with a little bit of a difficult set of rocks. That's one of the most unmatched sets out on the ice here, but we tried our best."

Draw 16

Northern Ontario suffered its first defeat, falling 7-6 to Ontario after a sudden-death 11th end.

Things weren't looking good for Jacobs and Co. heading into the 10th end. They trailed 6-4 after Ontario added an insurance point in the ninth. But Jacobs placed the final stone perfectly to ensure Northern Ontario got the two points necessary for overtime.

Alas, those heroics were all for naught. Ontario got a decisive point in the 11th end for the win.

Alberta was able to maintain its unbeaten record and sent the host packing in the process. Manitoba fell to 4-5 with its Draw 16 loss, eliminating any hope of advancing to the playoff round. 

The full schedule and standings for the Tim Hortons Brier are available on Curling.ca.