Off to mixed doubles worlds
Those who wish “Double J” would just go away are singing the blues.
That’s because Jennifer Jones and husband Brent Laing have joined the ranks of elite mixed doubles curling competitors.
Jones, the 2023 Canadian women’s finalist and 2022 Olympic rep and Laing—who finished fourth with Team Mike McEwen at this month’s London Brier— scored a big win over former champions Jocelyn Peterman and Brett Gallant to capture the 2023 Canadian mixed doubles crown in Sudbury, Ont.
After trading singles through four ends, Peterman/Gallant notched a steal in the fifth to go up 3-2.
Jones and Laing went to work and scored the game’s first deuce, for a 4-3 lead.
After a key force of their opponents to a single in the seventh end, Jones and Laing capped their championship Sunday by scoring five, for an inflated 9-4 victory.
Jones/Laing went 10-0 in Sudbury. They won their pool undefeated, then notched playoff wins over Lisa Weagle and John Epping (7-2) and Rachel Homan and Tyler Tardi (6-5) on the way to the final.
It was almost the same for Peterman and Gallant, the 2019 champions who won silver at the worlds that year.
The couple went unbeaten through their pool and won a playoff game against Ontario champions Lynn Kreviazuk and David Mathers (8-1) before dispatching the impressive Alberta pairing of Brittany Tran and Aaron Sluchinski 7-6 in their semifinal.
Tran/Sluchinski had beaten another former champion pairing, Laura Walker and Kirk Muyres, 7-6 in their quarterfinal matchup.
Yet another former champion pairing, Kadriana and Colton Lott, had been eliminated by Weagle/Epping.
The surprise of the week may have been the stellar play of Sasktachewan’s Chaelynn Kitz and Stewart Braydon. The team opened with six straight pool victories before losing 8-4 to the veteran pairing of Nancy Martin and Tyrel Griffith, which was followed by a 6-5 loss to Homan/Tardi.
Also qualifying for the quarterfinals were Saskatoon’s Patty Hersikorn and Steve Laycock, Karlee and Bryce Everist of Halifax, and the Quebec duo of Laurie St-Georges and Felix Asselin.
Jones and Laing will represent Canada at the World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship Apr. 22-29 in Gangneung, South Korea.