Perfect opening day!

Team Tran/Kleiter roll to pair of wins to open Canadian Mixed Doubles Trials

LIVERPOOL, N.S. — Brittany Tran and Rylan Kleiter have never competed in a Canadian Curling Trials, but you’d have never known based on their opening-day performance Monday at the 2025 Canadian Mixed Doubles Curling Trials.

The duo, hailing from Calgary and Saskatoon respectively, racked up two victories to open the Trials at Queens Place Emera Centre, including a 9-6 win over 2023 Canadian champs Jennifer Jones and Brent Laing of Barrie, Ont.

If there were any nerves about competing in the toughest test in Canadian mixed doubles curling, they were long gone at the end of their second win of the day.

“I think it was really good to get two wins under our belts,” said Tran, 31. “I think we’re feeling good, and we’re throwing well right now, and so if we can just continue that on to the next few days, we’ll be sitting in a good spot.”

Tran and Kleiter opened the day with a 6-3 win over Team Nancy Martin/Steve Laycock (Wakaw, Sask./Saskatoon), and carried that momentum into the game against Jones/Laing.

In the first end, Tran made a precision pick to remove a Jones/Laing counter and score three.

That was followed by a steal of one in the second and then three more in the third when Jones’s last-shot draw was wide and wrecked on a guard to make it 7-0 through three ends.

But mixed doubles curling presents no shortage of comeback opportunities, and Jones/Laing fought back into the game, utilizing a power play to score three in the fourth and stealing one in the fifth. Tran/Kleiter were forced to a single with their own power play in the sixth, and then Jones/Laing cut the lead to two, 8-6, with a seventh-end deuce.

Just another reminder that there’s no such thing as a safe lead in mixed doubles curling.

“Absolutely, yeah,” said Kleiter, 26. “Ends can flip really fast, so it’s about just staying to it and sticking to the game plan.”

“We know they’re a grinding team, so we needed to still play good,” added Tran. “But we were OK giving up three there in the power play and still maintaining control in the last half of the game.”

And that control came in handy in the final end as Tran made an open hit with the hammer, looking at three Jones/Laing counters, to nail down the victory, and drop the Jones/Laing tandem to 1-1 on opening day.

Many Trials rookies might get caught up in the pressure, but that wasn’t the case for Kleiter, who has history in Liverpool, having won a gold medal as the alternate for Tyler Tardi’s Canadian team at the 2019 World Junior Championships at Queens Place Emera Centre.

In other Draw 3 games, Team Rachel Homan/Brendan Bottcher (2-0; Beaumont, Alta./Spruce Grove, Alta.) turned back Team Anne-Sophie Gionest/Robert Desjardins (0-2; Alma, Que./Saguenay, Que.) 6-2; Team Jessica Zheng/Victor Pietrangelo (1-1; Niagara Falls, Ont.) beat Martin/Laycock (0-2) 7-4; and Team Laura Walker/Kirk Muyres (2-0; Edmonton/Humboldt, Sask.) was a 7-4 winner over Team Paige Papley/Evan Van Amsterdam (0-2; Edmonton).

In Monday night’s late games, Team Jaelyn Cotter/Jim Cotter (2-0; Vernon, B.C.) needed an extra end to beat Team Kadriana Lott/Colton Lott (1-1; Gimli, Man.) 7-5; Team Jocelyn Peterman/Brett Gallant (2-0; Chestermere, Alta.) scored two in the eighth end for an 8-7 win over Team Taylor Reese-Hansen/Corey Chester (0-2; Kitimat, B.C./Victoria); Team Lisa Weagle/John Epping (2-0; Ottawa/Toronto) turned back Team Riley Sandham/Brendan Craig (0-2; Guelph, Ont.) 9-4; and Team Jennifer Armstrong/Tyrel Griffith (1-1; Rothesay, N.B./Kelowna, B.C.) got by Team Melissa Adams/Alex Robichaud (0-2; Fredericton, N.B.) 6-2.

The 2025 Canadian Mixed Doubles Trials will continue with draws Tuesday at 9 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 4 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Live scoring, standings and statistics for the 2025 Canadian Mixed Doubles Trials are available by CLICKING HERE.

Streaming for the Trials will be available on Curling Canada’s YouTube channel.

Ticket information for the 2025 Canadian Mixed Doubles Trials is available by CLICKING HERE.

This story will be posted in French as soon as possible at www.curling.ca/2025mixeddoublestrials/nouvelles/?lang=fr