Thunder Bay to host Scotties Tournament of Hearts one year later than expected

The national women's curling championship is still coming to Thunder Bay. It will just be a year later.

Curling Canada announced the 2021 Scotties Tournament of Hearts, which had originally been scheduled to be held in Thunder Bay, will be among the events staged in Calgary using a hub city model.

Instead, Thunder Bay will host the 2022 competition.

Rick Lang, the vice-chair of the local organizing committee, said they're disappointed about the delay, but realized it was inevitable with COVID-19.

"We were looking forward to this February, but I think it's pretty clear to everyone now that wasn't going to be a reality," Lang said. "We've been in negotiations with Curling Canada for several months to make sure they would come back here in 2022."

Lang said 1,600 ticket packages were sold for the 2021 event. Those ticket holders will be contacted in the coming days with the option of keeping them for the next year, or receiving a refund.

The 2022 tickets will likely be sold starting in February, he added.