Canadians ready to mix it up

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This article was published 18/04/2017 (3400 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Most competitive curlers have stowed their brooms for the summer, but Reid Carruthers still has a major challenge ahead — and it’s crucial for him and his country.

The Winnipegger heads west this week to connect with Joanne Courtney in Lethbridge, Alta., as the duo represents Canada at the world mixed doubles championship.

There’s much at stake at the event, set for April 22-29, and Carruthers and Courtney carry the weight of a curling nation on their shoulders as Canada requires a solid showing to nail down a spot at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea — where mixed doubles will be a medal sport for the first time.

That poses a much heftier challenge than it sounds, even for a curling powerhouse such as Canada. Just seven teams will join host South Korea at the Olympics and the results of the 2016 and ’17 world mixed doubles championships will determine who’s in and who’s out.

The Canadian team of Marliese Kasner and Dustin Kalthoff placed fifth last year in Karlstad, Sweden, so Carruthers and Courtney likely need to be among the final half-dozen teams from a field of 39 to secure an Olympic berth for Canada.

“It’s the last event of the year for me. To represent Canada at the world mixed doubles is going to be fantastic, but there’s going to be a lot of pressure, that’s for sure,” Carruthers said Tuesday. “It will depend a lot on how teams do around us, but it’s pretty safe to say that if we finish fifth or better we’ll get Team Canada into the Olympics.”

Courtney and Carruthers recently posted a 9-6 extra-end victory over Rachel Homan and John Morris in the Canadian final in Saskatoon. The triumph came just two weeks after Courtney and Homan combined with Emma Miskew and Lisa Weagle to capture the world women’s championship in Beijing.

Courtney and Carruthers have, with their respective “regular” teams, already qualified for the Canadian Olympic trials in Ottawa in December. But mixed doubles is a different animal, entirely, and Canada lags behind.

Carruthers said even though Canada hasn’t dominated like it does in traditional curling, he and his partner are ready for the unique test of talent and nerves.

“Canada’s done well in the past, but we haven’t won it before, so it’s not like regular men’s and women’s curling where we have always have a pretty good chance to do well,” said Carruthers, who represented Manitoba at the 2015 Brier in Calgary, but bowed to Mike McEwen in this year’s provincial men’s final two months ago in Portage la Prairie.

“This is going to be tough.”

The field in Lethbridge has been split into five groups, with Canada in the mix with Czech Republic, England, France, Germany, Kazakhstan, Turkey and the U.S. in Group D. Round-robin play begins Saturday and continues until Thursday. The top 16 teams then play in a knock-out format, with medal games set for April 29.

If Courtney and Carruthers get the job done, Canada benefits. However, the tandem won’t automatically punch its own ticket to the Olympics.

The team will be one of 18 pairs at the Canadian mixed doubles trials in January, joining Kasner and Kalthoff, Homan and Morris, Winnipeg’s Jennifer Jones and her husband, Brent Laing, Winnipegger Colin Hodgson and former Winnipegger Chelsea Carey, Miskew and Tyrel Griffith and Kalynn Virtue and Charley Thomas, along with 11 teams still to be determined.

Three-time Canadian and two-time world men’s champion Jeff Stoughton, of Winnipeg, Curling Canada’s mixed doubles program manager, likes the chemistry between Carruthers and Courtney.

“It’s a good combination of personalities,” said Stoughton, who had Carruthers throwing second stones when his Manitoba men’s team won a world crown in 2011. “They really feed off each other. They have confidence in each other. You definitely need shot-making skills, but you still have to have that trust in the other person and that’s key for them.”

Stoughton said both have been in pressure situations before and won’t be easily rattled.

“Canada is not a favourite in this event. We haven’t earned that right, not yet,” he said. “It’s an interesting scenario for them. But I know they’ll be more focused on their own performance than on where they’ll place — third or fourth or whatever. They won’t look past the daily grind of the event.”

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @WFPJasonBel