Courtney and Carruthers win mixed doubles title in Saskatoon

A star-studded curling tournament ended with two of the best on top at the Canadian Mixed Doubles Championship in Saskatoon.

The duo of Joanna Courtney and Reid Carruthers scored 3 in an extra end to beat Rachel Homan and John Morris 9-6 in Sunday’s final at Nutana Curling Club.

“Well, Joanna hasn’t lost a game in a while,” Carruthers said, noting that his partner played second on Homan’s undefeated run at the women’s world championships. Team Courtney/Carruthers went 10-0 in Saskatoon. 

“She’s bailed me out and was the true skipper but I made a couple good ones.” 

For Courtney, the finale was a first in her curling career. She couldn’t remember ever playing against Rachel Homan, who is normally her skip.

“The blinders are on in the game but in between ends we were chit-chatting and it was a nice atmosphere,” Courtney said.

With the victory, the duo has the option to represent Canada at the world championships in Lethbridge, Alta. Neither player says they can commit to that just yet as their regular four-person team is the priority.

Should Canada qualify for the worlds, with or without Team Courtney/Carruthers, the pair would take part in the Olympic trials. The top three finishers earned the right to compete. 

“We had to earn our trial spot that was the biggest reason we came here,” Carruthers said. 

Two Saskatchewan-based teams were among the final eight teams out of thirty-two competing. Sherry Just and Ryan Deis of Fox Valley lost 6-4 to Chelsea Carey and Colin Hodgson Sunday morning. The host duo of Marliese Kasner and Dustin Kalthoff of Nutana CC were downed 8-6 by Homan and Morris. 

The World Championships in Lethbridge begin on Saturday, April 22. 

– With files from JT Marshall