The field is now set for all 13 teams for the BKT Tires World Men’s Curling Championship, taking place at Temple Gardens Centre here in Moose Jaw from March 29 to April 6.
Headlining the field will be world No. 1 Bruce Mouat from Scotland. He’s joined by third Grant Hardie, second Bobby Lammie, and lead Hammy McMillan. Along with being the No. 1 team, Mouat is also the 2023 world championship gold medalist.
Another favourite to win will be Sweden’s Niklas Edin and his team of third Oskar Eriksson, second Rasmus Wranå, and lead Christoffer Sundgren. Ranked 13th in the world, Edin is a three-time Olympic gold medalist. He is the defending world champion and a six-time world champion.
Representing Canada is Alberta’s Brad Jacobs, along with third Marc Kennedy, second Brett Gallant, and lead Ben Hebert. For Hebert, it will be a homecoming of sorts, as he is originally from Regina. Jacobs is a 2014 Olympic gold medalist and 2013 world silver medalist. He is ranked third in the world, behind Mouat and fellow Canadian Matt Dunstone, whom he defeated at the 2023 Tim Hortons Brier to represent Canada.
A team to watch out for will be Benoit Schwarz-Van Berkel’s Swiss rink, with third Yannick Schwaller, second Sven Michel, and lead Pablo Lachat-Couchepin.
Schwarz-Van Berkel was the 2023 European Curling Championship gold medalist and competed at the 2014, 2018, and 2022 Winter Olympics, taking bronze in 2018. Curling fans will be familiar with his third, Yannick Schwaller. Schwaller is ranked third in the world. He is a 2014 World Junior gold medalist and has competed at the World Men’s Championship for Switzerland several times. His best finish was fifth in 2022.
Skip Korey Dropkin, third Tom Howell, second Andrew Stopera, and lead Mark Fenner will be representing the United States. Dropkin is a former U.S. junior champion and a regular on the World Curling Tour.
Magnus Ramsfjell will be back representing Norway, with third Martin Sesaker, second Bendik Ramsfjell, and lead Gaute Nepstad. Magnus Ramsfjell won four consecutive world junior titles from 2016 to 2019, is a three-time Norwegian men’s champion, and a 2024 European Curling Championship bronze medalist.
Representing Austria is skip Mathias Genner, third Jonas Backofen, second Martin Reichel, and lead Florian Mavec. Genner competed in the 2016 World Junior B Curling Championship and skipped Austria in the B division of the 2023 European Curling Championship.
China will bring an experienced team, with skip Xiaoming Xu, third Xueping Fei, second Zhiyu Wang, and lead Zhichao Li. Xiaoming is a 2025 Pan-Continental Curling champion, competed at the 2025 Asian Winter Games where he made the playoffs, and has competed at the 2010 and 2014 Winter Olympics.
Former world junior champion Lukas Klima will be skipping Team Czechia, along with third Marek Cernovsky, second Martin Jurik, and lead Lukas Klipa. Klima won world junior titles in 2011 and 2012 and competed at the 2022 European Championship and the 2023 World Men’s Championship.
Skip Marc Muskatewitz, third Benjamin Kapp, second Felix Massenzehl, and lead Johannes Schuererl will be representing Germany. Muskatewitz has represented Germany several times on the world stage, with his best finish being 12th.
Italy will be skipped by Joel Retornaz, with third Amos Mosaner, second Sebastiano Arman, and lead Mattia Giovanella. Retornaz is a perennial representative from Italy and made a name for himself during the 2006 Winter Olympics with wins over Canada, the United States, and Germany.
Rounding out the field will be skip Hyojun Kim, third Eunbin Kim, second Jeongmin Pyo, and lead Jinhun Kim, representing South Korea. Hyojun has represented South Korea multiple times at the World Men’s Championship, primarily as a third, and is a silver medalist at the 2025 Asian Winter Games.
It all gets underway with the first draw at 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 29, at the Temple Gardens Centre. Tickets are still available at sasktix.ca. You can also download the full draw schedule here.