Manitoba teams into playoffs at Oly Pre-Trials

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This article was published 29/10/2021 (1752 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The outlook for the Mackenzie Zacharias team was wildly promising after victories at the Canadian and world junior women’s curling championships in early 2020.

Evidence suggests the future has arrived sooner than expected.

The Altona skip and her teammates — third Karlee Burgess, second Emily Zacharias and lead Lauren Lenentine — advanced to the weekend playoffs of the Canadian Olympic Pre-Trials in Liverpool, N.S.

The early 20-somethings are just two wins away from qualifying for the Olympic Trials next months in Saskatoon. They face Krista McCarville of Thunder Bay, Ont., Saturday at 11:30 a.m. (TSN)

Short on years of experience in the women’s game, the Zacharias crew has been in the pressure cooker before, not just surviving but thriving.

“We’ve been in similar situations at the Canadian juniors (Langley, B.C.) and the worlds (Krasnoyarsk, Russia), just going in there, knowing what we have to get done and not thinking too much about the outcome,” said Zacharias, 22, who defeated Jillian Brown of nearby Halifax 6-3 in the final round-robin game to register a 4-2 record in Pool B. “We’re focusing on playing our best and that’s our goal.”

Sherry Anderson of Saskatchewan (4-2) was awarded first in Pool B by way of a tie-breaker system, while Suzanne Birt of Prince Edward Island (4-2) settled for third.

The women’s field of 14 was divided, with three of seven teams from each pool qualifying for the playoffs. The top-two squads have an extra life.

McCarville (5-1) topped Pool A, Jacqueline Harrison of Dundas, Ont., (5-1) finished second, while Corryn Brown of B.C. (4-2) grabbed the third and final playoff spot.

The men’s field follows the identical formula.

Jason Gunnlaugson of Morris (4-2) finished second in Pool A and is also just a pair of wins away from punching a ticket to Saskatoon.

He faces Ontario’s Glenn Howard (5-1) on the 11:30 a.m. draw.

Pat Simmons of Winnipeg Beach (4-2) also made the playoffs, finishing third behind Tanner Horgan of Kingston, Ont., and Gunnlaugson.

Gunnlaugson was throttled 11-4 by Michael Fournier of Quebec on Friday morning but starts fresh Saturday.

Simmons upended Jeremy Harty of Calgary 7-6 on the Friday evening draw.

Simmons awaits the loser of the Horgan versus Nova Scotia’s Paul Flemming morning game.

It’s been an eventful year for the Zacharias team, which slipped into the 2021 Scotties Tournament of Hearts as a wild-card team. They finished 3-5 to miss the playoffs but left the Calgary bubble a more informed and confident group.

“It’s such a jump from juniors to women’s and we didn’t expect it to all come this fast. But with the pandemic hitting and the way that everything worked out with (Canadian Team Ranking System) points, so many opportunities and doors have been opened for us and we’ve learned and grown so much,” said Emily, 20, Mackenzie’s sister.

“We continue to keep proving ourselves and we keep getting these opportunities. It’s honestly amazing to think about how far we’ve come and everything we’ve been able to do.”

The Olympic Trials, finalizing Canada’s four-player team for the Beijing Winter Games in February, are set for Nov. 20-28.

A trio of Manitoba women’s teams, 2014 Olympic champion Jennifer Jones of Winnipeg, two-time reigning Scotties national champion Kerri Einarson of Gimli and world No.1-ranked Tracy Fleury of East St. Paul have already qualified for Saskatoon.

Mike McEwen of West St. Paul, who lost to Kevin Koe of Alberta in the 2017 Trials final, is returning for another shot at the Olympic dream.

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Dennis Thiessen won’t be adding any hardware to his impressive wall of honour this week.

The Sanford, Man., resident and member of the Canadian Curling Hall of Fame fell short of a medal at the world wheelchair curling championship in Beijing.

Thiessen, part of Team Canada along with Mark Ideson of London, Ont., Ina Forrest of Armstrong, B.C., Jon Thurston of Dunsford, B.C., and alternate Collinda Joseph of Stittsville, Ont., lost a playoff game to the United States on Friday to bow out of the championship.

Thiessen already has gold medals from the 2013 world championship and 2014 Paralympics, both held in Sochi, Russia, a bronze at the 2018 Paralympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, and a silver medal at the worlds in 2020.

Canada was rusty entering the competition in China but gained steam over the course of the week, reaching the playoffs with a 7-4 record. In the 4 vs. 5 game, the Canadians trailed 4-2 after six ends but pulled even with a deuce in the seventh.

In the eighth and final end, Thurston’s last-rock freeze attempt against two U.S. counters came up short, spelling the end for Canada.

China defeated the U.S. in a semifinal matchup and will collide with Sweden in Saturday’s final.

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPJasonBell