Canada up against 'stacked field' in quest for playoffs at mixed doubles curling worlds

Karissa Donkin · CBC Sports

· Posted: Apr 29, 2025 7:31 AM EDT | Last Updated: 7 minutes ago

At the extremity of 3 days of mixed doubles curling wrong Fredericton's Willie O'Ree Place, 1 squad stood unsocial supra the rest.

Only the reigning Olympic champions successful mixed doubles, Italy's Stefania Constantini and Amos Mosaner, had yet to suffer a game.

That came aft storming backmost to decision the Canadian squad of Jocelyn Peterman and Brett Gallant 7-5 connected Monday evening, a comeback that Italy secured by tying the crippled successful the seventh extremity and pulling up by 2 successful the last end. It was the Canadians' 2nd crippled of the day, aft defeating the Netherlands 7-3 connected Monday morning.

You could perceive a pin driblet wrong the arena arsenic the past reddish Canadian stone slid down the ice, followed by applause for the location team.

"We battled close to the end," Gallant told CBC Sports. "She made a beauteous runback connected her past changeable and near america with a truly tricky draw. But we knew it was going to beryllium a conflict contiguous and we've conscionable got to particulate that 1 disconnected and travel backmost tomorrow."

Canada ended Monday tied with Scotland and Sweden, each teams with a 4-1 record, down Italy successful Group A. In the 2nd group, each of Australia, Estonia, Japan, Norway and the United States registered 1 nonaccomplishment atop the pool.

Only the apical 3 teams from each radical volition beforehand to the playoffs. That truthful galore teams are successful the moving is simply a motion of the extent of the field, thing that's lone grown since mixed doubles was added arsenic an Olympic subject successful 2018.

"It's a stacked field," said Sweden's Anna Hasselborg. "Four of our teams [in Group A] could easy beryllium medalling astatine the Olympics. It's going to beryllium a truly pugnacious week due to the fact that there's a batch of apical teams."

The stakes are high. Olympic qualification points volition beryllium awarded based connected however teams finish. The points earned this twelvemonth and astatine past year's satellite title volition harvester to find which countries spell to Italy adjacent February. 

Based connected those points, the apical 7 countries (behind the automatically-qualified big country, Italy) volition gain berths. The last 2 spots volition beryllium determined astatine a last-chance qualifying tourney aboriginal this year.

The Canadians had to rapidly shingle disconnected the nonaccomplishment connected Monday evening. As the arena emptied, the joined mates of Peterman and Gallant took immoderate clip to spot their families, including their toddler son. Then, it was backmost connected the crystal to signifier up of a Tuesday day crippled against Korea.

Beyond Olympic qualification, the squad is vying to triumph Canada's archetypal satellite title successful mixed doubles curling.

"We cognize that each game, we person to bring our best," Peterman said. "There's nary casual games successful our pool. We cognize we're acceptable to conflict for each game."

Excitement for a caller pro league

Days earlier the mixed doubles satellite title began, The Curling Group announced plans to motorboat a nonrecreational curling league that volition statesman play adjacent April.

The owners of the Grand Slam of Curling bid person said the Rock League volition see six franchises featuring curlers from crossed the globe facing disconnected successful "a multi-format competition" implicit six weeks.

The teams are organized by region, including 2 from Canada (one captained by Rachel Homan and the different by Brad Jacobs), 2 from Europe (one led by Switzerland's Alina Pätz and the different by Scotland's Bruce Mouat), 1 from Asia-Pacific (captained by Chinami Yoshida of Japan) and an American team, which volition beryllium led by Korey Dropkin.

Each squad volition see 10 curlers: 5 men and 5 women. 

The league is portion of The Curling Group's "vision to professionalize and germinate the athletics of curling" and could alteration the sport. For one, curlers volition beryllium paid a wage successful summation to immoderate prize money. Exact fiscal details haven't been released.

The thought of earning a wage is thing Pätz, who is competing this week astatine the mixed doubles satellite championship, has lone been capable to imagination about.

"We usually usage the sponsor wealth to wage the expenses for question and everything," she said successful an interview.

"If we person thing near astatine the extremity of the year, that's fundamentally our wage for now. To person a guaranteed wage for six weeks, that's conscionable thing wholly caller for maine and truthful exciting."

She besides hopes it volition proceed to turn the athletics and pull fans successful a caller way.

Other curlers are waiting to find retired much astir however the league mightiness work.

"They're surely funny successful increasing the crippled and they're putting a batch of effort into gathering these leagues up," Gallant said. "I'd emotion to spot what happens."

More details, including squad names, locations and afloat rosters, are expected to travel this fall.

"There are inactive things that they can't disclose yet, conscionable due to the fact that they're inactive trying to fig it each out," Mouat said. "But I deliberation erstwhile each the teams are signed connected and established, past a batch of excitement volition beryllium happening from the athletes, which volition past resonate to the fans."