Canadian mixed doubles championship starts in Fredericton on Sunday

Canadian mixed doubles teams from across the country will begin play at the 2024 Canadian Mixed Doubles Curling Championship this Sunday in Fredericton.

Action on the ice begins at 6 p.m. (all times Atlantic) at the Aitken University Centre at the University of New Brunswick and the Capital Winter Club. Thirty-two teams are vying for the opportunity to win the national championship and represent Canada at the 2024 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship in Oestersund, Sweden, from April 20-27.

A win at the national championship would put Laura Walker (Edmonton) and Kirk Muyres (Humboldt, Sask.) in familiar territory. The duo represented Canada at the 2018 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship, also hosted in Oestersund. Walker and Muyres, the top-ranked team on the Canadian Mixed Doubles Rankings (CMDR), would love a return trip to worlds to improve its bronze-medal performance six years ago.

The 32-team field is divided into four pools of eight and features 12 provincial/territorial champions, along with 20 qualified teams from the CMDR. 

Teams play a seven-game round-robin schedule from Sunday evening through Wednesday, with 12 teams advancing to the single knockout playoffs, which begin on Thursday morning. The four pool winners earn byes directly into the quarterfinals on Thursday at 7 p.m., while the teams with the following eight best records, regardless of the pool, will compete in the opening playoff draw at 1 p.m.

The semifinals are scheduled for Friday at 9 a.m., with the bronze-medal game at 12:15 p.m. and the gold-medal game at 1 p.m.

There will be no tiebreaker games. All ties are broken based on head-to-head results and if that doesn’t resolve the tie, the pre-game Last Shot Draw totals will rank the teams.

When it comes to contenders, Walker and Muyres aren’t the only team in the mix. Reigning Canadian mixed doubles champions Jennifer Jones and Brent Laing of Horseshoe Valley, Ont., return with the goal of becoming the first team to win back-to-back mixed doubles championships. 

Jocelyn Peterman and Brett Gallant, of Chestermere, Alta., are also looking for a record-extending third Canadian mixed doubles championship. Fredericton has boded well for Peterman and Gallant. The last time they won the Canadian title was in 2019, when Fredericton was the host city.

In addition to representing Canada, the winning team also leaves Fredericton with $35,000. The silver-medal team wins $20,000, the bronze-medal team earns $17,000, and the fourth-place team receives $14,000. Quarterfinalists earn $10,000, while teams that qualify for the opening playoff draw earn $6,000.

The road to representing Canada at the Olympics will also begin in Fredericton. The top three teams at this event earn berths into the 2025 Canadian Mixed Doubles Trials (Dec. 30-Jan. 4 at Liverpool, N.S.), which will determine Canada’s mixed doubles team for the 2026 Olympics in Italy. 

Here is a list of all the teams competing:

Pool A

• Laura Walker/Kirk Muyres, Edmonton/Humboldt, Sask.
• Team New Brunswick, Melissa Adams/Alex Robichaud, Fredericton
• Laurie St-Georges/Félix Asselin, Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Que.
• Chaelynn Kitz/Brayden Stewart, Minnedosa, Man.
• Madison Kleiter/Rylan Kleiter, Saskatoon
• Audrey Laplante/Jasmin Gibeau, Gatineau, Que.
• Tyler Tardi/Andrea Kelly, Calgary/Fredericton
• Team Yukon, Ruth Siciliano/Tyler Williams, Whitehorse

Pool B

• Nancy Martin/Steve Laycock, Martensville, Sask.
• Jaelyn Cotter/Jim Cotter, Vernon, B.C.
• Paige Papley/Evan Van Amsterdam, Edmonton
• Lauren Cheal/Greg Cheal, Sherbrooke, Que.
• Team Nova Scotia, Marlee Powers/Luke Saunders, Halifax
• Team Alberta, Amanda Sluchinski/Aaron Sluchinski, Airdrie
• Team Quebec, Kelly Tremblay/Pierre Lanoue, Clermont/Boucherville
• Team Northern Ontario, Jackie McCormick/Trevor Bonot, Stratton

Pool C 

• Jennifer Jones/Brent Laing, Horseshoe Valley, Ont.
• Team British Columbia, Taylor Reese-Hansen/Corey Chester, Victoria
• Lisa Weagle/John Epping, Ottawa/Toronto
• Riley Sandham/Brendan Craig, Guelph, Ont.
• Émilia Gagné/Pierre-Luc Morissette, Ville de Quebec
• Lauren Wasylkiw/Shane Konings, Unionville, Ont.
• Team Saskatchewan, Christie Gamble/Dustin Kalthoff, Saskatoon
• Team Newfoundland & Labrador, Jess Wiseman/Greg Smith, St. John’s

Pool D

• Jocelyn Peterman/Brett Gallant, Chestermere, Alta.
• Jennifer Armstrong/Tyrel Griffith, Rothesay, N.B./Kelowna
• Jessica Zheng/Victor Pietrangelo, Niagara Falls, Ont.
• Anne-Sophie Gionest/Robert Desjardins, Chicoutimi/Riverbend, Que.
• Team Manitoba, Kadriana Lott/Colton Lott, Winnipeg Beach
• Véronique Bouchard/Jean-François Charest, Chicoutimi, Que.
• Team Ontario, Lynn Kreviazuk/David Mathers, Ottawa
• Team Prince Edward Island, Jenny White/Ed White, Crapaud

Select games will be streamed live on Curling Canada’s streaming platform, Curling Canada +.

Schedule information, scores and more details about the event can be found here.