Canada eliminated by Norway at 2022 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND — Canada’s run at a podium finish ended on Friday at the 2022 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship. 

The mixed doubles duo of Jocelyn Peterman (Winnipeg) and Brett Gallant (St. John’s, N.L.), and coaches Scott Pfeifer and Lisa Weagle, fell short of medal contention in the qualification game at the Sous-Moulin Sports Centre in Geneva, Switzerland. Norway’s Maia and Magnus Ramsfjell threw a short raise takeout in the final end to score two and defeat Canada 6-5.

“We’re happy with our performance through the week, but not our best game here today. It’s disappointing. We were hoping for a better result,” Peterman said.

When leading 3-2 in the sixth end, the tides turned for Canada, giving up a steal of two. Canada was left with a difficult double attempt to score, but hit its target too thick, leaving Norway with a score of two and its first lead of the game.

In the seventh end, Peterman and Gallant used their power play and got back in front with a hit for two. But Norway had the hammer coming home and managed to set up a two-score to take the victory. 

“I just kind of lost my draw weight in the sixth and the eighth ends, and they were able to make some good shots and get some angles set up,” Gallant said. “It’s disappointing. I thought we played really well the first five ends, and then there were four or five missed draws from myself in the sixth and eighth ends and left Jocelyn with some tough shots. They capitalized when they had the chance.”

The loss ends what has been a busy 2021-22 curing season for Peterman and Gallant. The engaged couple won the 2021 Tim Hortons Canadian Curling Trials with their men’s and women’s teams and represented Canada in their first Olympics together in Beijing. Gallant’s Team Gushue won bronze for Canada at the event and then won the 2022 Tim Hortons Brier and earned silver at the men’s world championship. 

Curling Canada selected Peterman and Gallant to represent the nation at the 2022 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship due to the cancellation of the national championship. It is the second time Peterman and Gallant have worn the Maple Leaf at this event, winning silver in 2019.

Peterman and Gallant are to be married in June, capping off what has been a memorable curling season.

“It’s always an honour to represent Canada, and we’ve had the opportunity to do that a few times each. Obviously, there’s some disappointment now. But when we look back on the season, it probably might be one of the most memorable of our careers,” Gallant said. “It’s all perspective, and this loss is frustrating right now. But our intention is to get back to this position in the future and we’ll learn a lot from this event.”

Earlier in the day, Germany’s Pia-Lisa Schöll and Klaudius Harsch defeated Sweden’s Isabella and Rasmus Wranå in the first qualification game by a score of 11-8 in an extra end. Germany will play Scotland’s Eve Muirhead and Bobby Lammie in the semifinal on Friday at 10 a.m. (all times ET). Norway takes on Alina Pätz and Sven Michel of Switzerland in the second semifinal at 1:30 p.m.

The losers play in the bronze-medal game on Saturday at 4 a.m., and the winners play the gold-medal game at 8 a.m.

TSN will broadcast the remaining playoff games. For its complete broadcast schedule, click here. 

For Team Canada updates, go to www.curling.ca. Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

For the list of teams, draw information and live scoring, visit the event website.

The French version of this story will be posted as soon as possible at www.curling.ca/?lang=fr