Curling

Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

CCA's mixed curling championship not on the rocks

By: Donna Spencer

Posted: 10/2/2012 1:00 AM | Comments: 0

CALGARY -- The Canadian Curling Association has no plans to do away with the 47-year-old mixed curling championship following the introduction of mixed doubles trials.

The chief executive officer of the CCA says the annual Canadian mixed championship that has run since 1964, and features teams made up of two men and two women, will remain on the calendar.

"The Canadian mixed fours continues on," Greg Stremlaw said Monday from Ottawa.

A new mixed doubles trials March 14-17, 2013, in Leduc, Alta., will determine Canada's representative at the world mixed doubles championship April 13-20 in Fredericton, N.B.

Teams are made up one male and one female in mixed doubles.

It's a relatively new curling event and one the World Curling Federation wants to see in the Winter Olympics by 2018.

Switzerland has won four of the five world doubles championships to date.

Previously, the four curlers who won the Canadian mixed championship elected a male and female from their team to play in the world mixed doubles.

Pairings

Now, the mixed foursome that prevails Nov. 15-24 in Mont-Royal, Que., will break into two pairings and join 30 other Canadian teams at doubles trials in Leduc.

"It eliminates the problem of deciding who gets to go from the winning team that wins the nationals, which is not easy having to choose two players," said Winnipeg's Sean Grassie, who won world doubles bronze with Allison Nimik in 2009.

"That's definitely the best part about it."

But Grassie isn't enthusiastic about having so many teams able to enter the Canadian trials.

The 14 provinces and territories will each choose a team to represent them, but the remaining 16 entries will be open invitations.

A team's participation will be decided by their ranking on the CCA's order of merit.

Stremlaw says residency rules won't apply, so a male from Ontario could conceivably team up with a female from B.C.

"I couldn't really call this a true national championship if teams can have curlers from different provinces and don't have to qualify to get in," Grassie explained. "That part I don't like about it.

"If you keep it every province represented, and I don't mind including two teams that win nationals as a reward, I don't have a problem with that."

-- The Canadian Press

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition October 2, 2012 D2

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