Murray Wood: Who's hot... and who's not
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Some of the country’s best curlers are descending on Saskatoon as the Canadian Mixed Doubles Championship gets underway this week.
Thirty-two teams, each made up of a man and a woman, are divided up into four pools that will play at Nutana Curling club from Wednesday to Sunday.
It’s the second consecutive year the national championship is being held in Saskatoon.
Several Olympic medallists, world champions, Scotties and Brier winners are competing.
2017 World women’s Curling Champion Rachel Homan is among the headliners. She’ll be joined by 2010 Olympic gold medal winner John Morris.
There was extra incentive for the top players to compete – mixed doubles curling has been added to the 2018 Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
“When they opened it up to the Olympics, all of a sudden competitive curlers perked up,” said John Morris, who along with Homan is the top seed in Group A.
“You have to be in good shape. There’s a lot of sweeping and a lot of strategy so you have to be well-rounded.”
The winner in Saskatoon will advance to the 2017 World Championships in Lethbridge, Alta. where the top seven teams earn a berth at the Olympics. Should Canada qualify, the top three teams in Saskatoon will compete in the Olympic trials in January 2018.
Pool play begins at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
The top team in each group gets a bye to Sunday’s championship round while the next eight teams in the standings will square off on Saturday.
Last year’s winning team — Brett Gallant and Jocelyn Peterman — are not returning as Gallant is playing on Brad Gushue’s team at the men’s World Championships taking place at the same time.
