Team Gunnlaugson controls own fate at pre-Oly curling trials

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This article was published 28/10/2021 (1753 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Four lads in Liverpool need nobody’s help at the Canadian Olympic pre-trials.

Jason Gunnlaugson’s curling team from Morris controls its own destiny over the next three days as it competes to join a starry field at the upcoming Olympic trials in Saskatoon, Nov. 20-28.

Gunnlaugson, third Adam Casey, second Matt Wozniak and lead Connor Njegovan have compiled a 4-1 record at the pre-Trials this week in Liverpool, N.S., and have just one round-robin game remaining.

A victory Friday over Michael Fournier of Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Que., set for the 6 a.m. (CT) draw, assures the Manitobans second place in seven-team Pool A, and leaves them just two playoff wins away from booking a spot to Saskatoon.

That would give an already heavy Manitoba presence at the upcoming Trials an extra boost.

The pre-trials, featuring 14 men’s teams and another 14 women’s teams, will determine the last two spots at the Trials in men’s and women’s play. Three teams from each pool advance to the playoffs, which are set for Saturday and Sunday.

A Gunnlaugson loss to Fournier could created a logjam of teams with two defeats.

“It’s definitely been pressure-packed,” Gunnlaugson said Thursday afternoon, by phone. “There’s going to be some good teams on the outside looking in at this end of this event. So, we’re just really focused on not being one of them.

“(Being) 4-1 is a good spot, especially if we win the next game and put ourselves into a great position to win two more and go to the Trials.”

In women’s play, 2020 world junior champion Mackenzie Zacharias of Altona dumped Danielle Inglis of Mississauga 8-4 Thursday night to improve to 3-2 in Pool B, the identical record to Sherry Anderson of Martensville, Sask. They both trail Suzanne Birt of Prince Edward Island (4-1).

But the Zacharias team moves onto the weekend — perhaps finishing as high as first in the pool — if it dispatches of Jill Brothers of nearby Halifax on the 10 a.m. draw.

“Going into this week, we looked at the field and it’s stacked, a lot of the up-and-coming teams in the women’s game. We knew we could go in and win a bunch of games or lose a bunch, it was really up in the air,” said Zacharias, who is joined by third Karlee Burgess, second (and sister) Emily Zacharias and lead Lauren Lenentine.

“We’ve been playing decent but not our best curling, yet. So, we’re excited for what’s to come. But we’ll definitely take where we are so far.

Gunnlaugson’s crew fell 6-5 in an extra end to Tanner Horgan of Kingston, Ont., in a clash of unbeaten teams. Horgan stayed perfect at 5-0. Trailing by one in the 10th end, Gunnlaugson had the hammer and already had shot stone in the house but squandered an opportunity for a game-winning deuce.

“It was a good battle. I had a pretty makeable shot to win but didn’t quite make it,” said Gunnlaugson. “It was like a hit-and-roll to the button.”

Meanwhile, Pat Simmons of Winnipeg is 2-2 in Pool A and still has a chance to qualify for the playoff, while Braden Calvert of Winnipeg is 2-2 is still in the mix in Pool B. Sean Grassie of Winnipeg (0-4) is out of the playoff picture.

Darcy Robertson of Winnipeg lost 9-4 to Birt to fall to 3-3 in women’s Pool B. In Pool A, Beth Peterson of Winnipeg is 1-3.

Next month, Gimli’s Kerri Einarson, Tracy Fleury of East St. Paul and Jennifer Jones of Winnipeg, in women’s play, and Mike McEwen of West St. Paul, on the men’s side, will curl at the Olympic Trials. Nine teams in each of men’s and women’s play will compete to represent the Maple Leaf at the Beijing Winter Games in February.

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPJasonBell