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AUSTRALIAN DUO ARE CHAMPIONS OF THE 2025 JAMAICA CUP MIXED DOUBLES CASHSPIEL

Jan 20, 2025

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


Hamilton, ON, Canada – Curling Jamaica hosted sixteen mixed doubles teams from five different nations at its second annual “Jamaica Cup” of curling Cashspiel this past weekend, January 18-19, 2025, at Dundas Valley Golf and Curling Club in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.


The event, which featured a purse of $5,000.00 CAD ($547,439.20 JMD), attracted competitive mixed doubles curling teams from Canada, the United States, Mexico, Australia and Jamaica. The sixteen teams were divided into four round-robin groups, with the top two teams in each group advancing to Sunday’s championship playoff round.


Among the favourites were the Australian duo of Talhi Gill and Dean Hewitt (“Gill / Hewitt”), who

represented Australia at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. Gill / Hewitt finished the weekend

undefeated and were crowned the 2025 Jamaica Cup Mixed Doubles Cashspiel champions.


In the championship final, Gill / Hewitt faced the team of Lauren Wasylkiw and Shane Konings, a team from the Unionville Curling Club (Ontario, Canada) that competed in last year’s Canadian Mixed Doubles Championship. Wasylkiw / Konings took an early 4-1 lead after three ends, but Gill / Hewitt responded by scoring 5 unanswered points. In the pivotal fifth end, Gill delivered a clutch triple takeout with her final stone of the end, removing 3 opposing stones from play and securing a 6-4 lead. Wasylkiw / Konings were not able to capitalize on their power play in the sixth end and were held to a single point. Gill / Hewitt then won the final two ends to win by a 9-5 score.


Jamaica’s lone representatives at this tournament were Curling Jamaica’s sibling duo of Stephanie Chen and Justin Chen. They finished with a 1 win, 2 loss record in a tough group, and did not advance to the playoff round. Their lone victory came in the third game where they won by a score of 7-5 over Michelle Butler and Jerry Butler of Cambridge, Ontario. They lost by an 8-7 score to Riley Sandham and Brendan Craig (who also competed at the Canadian championships), and an 8-4 defeat to the Brock University alumni duo of Sarah Bailey and Dylan Sipura.



JAMAICA CUP MIXED DOUBLES CASHSPIEL ROUND ROBIN STANDINGS – SAT. JAN. 18, 2025

GROUP A

Neil / McDonald (Canada) 3-0

Smith / Thomson (Canada) 2-1

Stella / Carle (USA) 1-2

Serra / Tompkins (Mexico) 0-3

GROUP B

Wasylkiw / Konings (Canada) 3-0

Moores / Wheeler (USA) 2-1

Paquette / Daoust (Canada) 1-2

Jackson / Montgomery (Canada) 0-3

GROUP C

Gill / Hewitt (Australia) 3-0

Roach / Gilbert (Canada) 2-1

Feldkamp / Villard (Canada) 1-2

Humphries / Maves (Canada) 0-3

GROUP D

Bailey / Sipura (Canada) 2-1

Sandham / Craig (Canada) 2-1

Chen / Chen (Jamaica) 1-2

Butler / Butler (Canada) 1-2


JAMAICA CUP MIXED DOUBLES CASHSPIEL PLAYOFF ROUND – SUN. JAN. 19, 2025

QUARTERFINALS

Wasylkiw / Konings (Canada) 7

Roach / Gilbert (Canada) 3

Gill / Hewitt (Australia) 6

Sandham / Craig (Canada) 2

Smith / Thomson (Canada) 8

Bailey / Sipura (Canada) 7

Moores / Wheeler (USA) 8

Neil / McDonald (Canada) 7

SEMI-FINALS

Wasylkiw / Konings (Canada) 6

Moores / Wheeler (USA) 4

Gill / Hewitt (Australia) 5

Smith / Thomson (Canada) 4

CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL

Gill / Hewitt (Australia) 9

Wasylkiw / Konings (Canada) 5


About the Jamaica Cup Mixed Doubles Cashspiel: an annual tournament organized by Curling Jamaica President Ian Robertson, with the assistance and facilities of Dundas Valley Golf & Curling Club and volunteers. This tournament provides the opportunity for teams of varying skill levels to compete in a tournament with many of the restrictions and time limits usually seen in World Curling competition. All teams competing in this event (a “WC – Tier 2 Event”) can earn points toward their World ranking.


About Curling Jamaica: Curling Jamaica is the sole governing body of the winter sport of Curling in

Jamaica, and currently operates in Ontario, Canada, with corporate registered head offices in Toronto, Ontario and Kingston, Jamaica. Players are based in Canada, Scotland and the United States. For further information about Curling Jamaica, visit www.curlingjamaica.com


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For more information, please contact:

Ian Robertson at president@curlingjamaica.com

or Ben Kong at ben.jamaicacurling@gmail.com

© 2025 JAMAICA CURLING FEDERATION

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