Gunnlaugson’s crew cleared to compete

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This article was published 30/11/2010 (5434 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

RUSSIA no longer wants them, but Canada still does.

Winnipeg curlers Jason Gunnlaugson, Justin Richter and Tyler Forrest have been cleared to compete for a berth in the 2011 Brier and curl for what could potentially be their second national curling championship this winter, the Canadian Curling Association announced Monday.

And the three men, who won the Russian men’s curling championship just last month before they were summarily fired as that country’s national team, intend to do precisely that.

Gunnlaugson said Monday that he and his two teammates are lining up a fourth player and intend to enter a team in the Manitoba men’s zone playdowns before the Dec. 2 deadline.

“I think we’re going to play,” Gunnlaugson said. “We just have a couple more phone calls to make.”

Gunnlaugson’s comments came the same day that CCA CEO Greg Stremlaw announced that a review by his organization and the World Curling Federation of Gunnlaugson’s unusual predicament found no reason why the three Manitobans couldn’t also compete this winter to represent Canada at the men’s world championship.

Stremlaw said the WCF rules preclude a curler from “representing” two different countries in the same season and a review by the WCF found that while the Manitobans had won the Russian championship, they hadn’t yet represented Russia at any WCF events or qualifiers.

“Our ruling is aligned with the WCF’s,” Stremlaw said in an interview, “and so if they were to win the Manitoba championship, they will be eligible to compete in the Tim Horton’s Brier.”

Gunnlaugson said the Russian rebuke still stings, but he and his two teammates are intrigued by the possibilities of curling for a Manitoba championship next February in Beausejour, which is Richter’s hometown.

“The motivation for all of us right now,” said Gunnlaugson, “is to try and get to that Safeway Championship in Justin’s hometown. We know that would mean a lot to him and it’d definitely be a fun event to curl in.”

The Manitoba Curling Association previously cleared the three curlers to play in the Manitoba playdowns. All three continued to reside in Manitoba this fall, training in Gimli even while they were curling towards the Russian championship.

paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca