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Some of the country’s best curlers are returning to Saskatoon next spring.
The Canadian Mixed Doubles Championship will be held at the Nutana Curling Club in April 2017, with a chance to close in on a trip to the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea.
“Everyone is excited to see mixed doubles curling continue to grow in Canada, and with the Winter Olympics looming large, we expect a highly competitive event in Saskatoon,” said Hugh Avery, the chair of Curling Canada’s Board of Governors in a news release Thursday.
It’ll be the second straight year the competition will be held in Saskatoon; Nutana also hosted the 2016 edition.
“We’re thrilled to have another opportunity to host this elite championship,” said Kory Kohuch, general manager of the Nutana Curling Club.
Thirty-two teams made of two – a man and a woman – will be divided into four pools of eight. The top two teams in each group will move on to the knockout round. The next four teams with the best record will also advance.
The winner moves on to the world championships in Lethbridge, while the top three finishers advance directly to the 2018 Canadian Mixed Doubles Olympic Trials.
The top seven countries from the past two world championships will qualify for the games. The Saskatchewan duo of Marliese Kasner and Dustin Kalthoff finished fifth in 2016.
Mixed doubles is slightly different than the more standard game of curling. It’s played over eight ends instead of ten, and each side has only six stones in each end. One stone is also pre-positioned in the centre before every end.
The sport will make its first appearance at an Olympic games in 2018.