Carruthers, Courtney rising to the competition

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This article was published 25/04/2017 (3392 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s been trial by fire for Reid Carruthers and Joanne Courtney at the world mixed doubles curling championship in Lethbridge, Alta.

The duo won a national title the rugged Canadian way, launching from the hack with some big-weight hits and hard, accurate run-backs earlier this month in Saskatoon.

But they’re discovering some not-so-subtle differences this week on the international stage and have altered their strategy — to mostly positive results.

Carruthers, a Winnipegger, and Courtney, his Edmonton-based teammate, own a 4-1 record at the 39-team world championship, following a come-from-behind 10-6 victory over Germany late Tuesday night.

The Canadian pair needs a solid showing in Lethbridge to secure an Olympic berth in mixed doubles for Canada. 

The tandem — “just two people trying to do four peoples’ jobs,” Carruthers aptly pointed out — is quickly adapting to a gentler approach.

“It’s one thing to play teams that you know and it’s another thing when you don’t know them at all,” Carruthers said Tuesday afternoon in a telephone interview with the Free Press.

“Some of the teams here play a different strategy than what we experienced at the Canadians. There are a lot more taps and freezes in this competition, whereas at the Canadian championship we saw more defensive play, those run-backs of guards into a pile of rocks (in the house).”

It’s a shift in thinking that hasn’t been difficult to make because both can play the finesse game, too, he said.

“It’s probably the strength of my game, playing the soft-weight taps and freezes,” Carruthers said. “For me, there’s been a couple of times where I haven’t had my draw weight perfect. But we’re not far off from where we need to be.”

The field in Lethbridge has been split into five groups, with Canada in the mix with the Czech Republic, England, France, Germany, Kazakhstan, Turkey and the United States in Group D.

After opening the worlds with victories over Turkey, France and Kazakhstan, Courtney and Carruthers were upended 7-5 by the Czech Republic team of Zuzana Hajkova and Tomas Paul on Monday.

But Canada rebounded against the German tandem of Julia Meissner and Andy Buttner on Tuesday. Down 6-3 with just two ends to go, Carruthers and Courtney scored four points in the seventh and stole three more in the eighth.

U.S. siblings Becca and Matt Hamilton (5-0) lead Group D, while Canada and the Czech Republic have identical 4-1 records. 

Canada returns to the ice today at 12:15 p.m. against England’s brother-sister act of Anna and Ben Fowler (3-2), a game that can be seen on TSN. Carruthers and Courtney battle the U.S. on Thursday in their final round-robin game, and need to finish in the top three in their pool to qualify for single-knockout playoffs Friday and Saturday.

“Our goal is to get to 5-2 or better,” said Carruthers whose regular men’s team is ranked third in the world behind recently crowned world champion Brad Gushue, of St. John’s, N.L., and 2016 world champion Kevin Koe, of Calgary. “We’re in good shape.”

The combined results of the 2016 and 2017 worlds will determine the seven teams that join South Korea in February at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang. Last year, Canada’s Marliese Kasner and Dustin Kalthoff finished fifth, so a similar result or better by Carruthers and Courtney should clinch a berth.

“There’d be a lot of curlers in this situation who would be really nervous. But when I got to the nationals this year, I said to Joanne and (national mixed doubles coach) Jeff Stoughton that I’d love to be the team that goes and represents Canada and has that pressure on our backs,” sais Carruthers. “What better experience than to come here and have to get the job done for Canada.”

Courtney is representing Canada at a world championship for the second time in less than a month. She plays second for Ottawa’s Rachel Homan, who won Canada first women’s world title since 2008 in March in Beijing. A talented shot-maker, she’s also considered one of the world’s finest sweepers.

“I like the chemistry. We’re both fiery competitors and when we lost the game (Monday) we needed to take a solid 10 to 15 minutes to get over that one because we’re both ultra-competitive,” said Carruthers, who won a world men’s title playing second for Stoughton in 2011.

“We both relish a chance to wear the Canadian jersey. There’s a lot of pride when you’re wearing that Maple Leaf… playing in a big event, representing your country. It’s a huge honour.”

 

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPJasonBell