CALGARY – It’s down to eight teams after starting with 35 duos at the Home Hardware Canadian mixed doubles curling championship.

Lisa Weagle and John Epping topped Valerie Sweeting and Marc Kennedy 7-5 on Tuesday in the opening draw of the qualifying round to set up a match against top-seeded Laura Walker and Kurt Muyres — the only undefeated pairing remaining at the tournament after going 6-0 in pool play.

In other qualifying-round openers, Shannon Birchard and Catlin Schneider downed Emma Miskew and Ryan Fry 10-6, Kadriana Sahaidak and Colton Lott beat Mackenzie Mitchell and Greg Smith 8-3 and Kerri Einarson and Brad Gushue got by Brittany Tran and Aaron Sluchinski 9-8.

Sahaidak and Lott will face No. 2 seeds Jocelyn Peterman and Brett Gallant, Einarson and Gushue get No. 3 seeds Jennifer Jones and Brent Laing, while Birchard and Schneider are againstNo. 4 seeds Danielle Schmiemann and John Morris — with every matchup scheduled for Wednesday morning.

The winners will advance to the Page seeding round, with the gold-medal game Thursday.

The top 12 teams emerged from five pools to playoffs Tuesday, with the top four receiving first-round byes in the qualifying round and the other eight meeting head to head for a chance to move on.

The winners earn $50,000 and represent Canada at the world championship if and when the World Curling Federation names a date and a location.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 23, 2021.