Kaitlyn Lawes and John Morris led from start to finish as they beat Brett Gallant and Jocelyn Peterman 7-3 to advance to the Canadian mixed doubles curling trials final.
Lawes and Morris will meet Brad Gushue and Val Sweeting with a spot at February’s Olympics in Pyeongchang on the line.
“It would be a dream come true,” Lawes said. “We’re focused on trying to make our shots and hopefully we have that hammer coming home in the last end. I think it’s going to be a great game tomorrow.”
“We’re not looking anything past Brad and Val tomorrow. They’re formidable opponents and we’re just going to do what we can to prepare for tomorrow,” said Morris.
The duo scored a double in the first end of Saturday night’s match and never looked back, opening up a 6-2 lead by the fifth end.
Tomorrow’s final will be a rematch of a match earlier Saturday, won by Gushue and Sweeting with ease.
Gushue, Sweeting reach final
Brad Gushue and Val Sweeting continued their strong play at the Canadian mixed doubles curling trials on Saturday, defeating Morris and Lawes in the Page 1-2 playoff for a spot in the finals.
Gushue and Sweeting used a 4-point end in the fifth to take full control, before winning 9-4 in seven ends.
Peterman, Gallant move on to semis
Peterman and Gallant avoided a major meltdown on Saturday, pulling out a victory over Jennifer Jones and Mark Nichols in the Page 3-4 playoff.
Peterman and Gallant opened up a 4-0 lead through three ends in Portage la Prairie, Man., before a few costly mistakes allowed the veteran team of Jones and Nichols to tie the match 4-4 heading into the eighth and final end.
With a crowded house heading into the final rock, Peterman placed it perfectly with a tap to give her team a 5-4 win, advancing to the semifinal.
“I don’t really get nerves like that playing second,” said Peterman, of her final shot for the win. “It wasn’t too bad. I kind of joked that I had been throwing that weight all game on my last shot so it was nice.”
She did it!
Jocelyn Peterman and Brett Gallant get the win after Jocelyn makes a clutch tap for the win.
Jones/Nichols have been eliminated. What a finish.#cbccurl@CBCOlympics
—@Devin_Heroux
Peterman and Gallant reached the 3-4 game earlier in the day with an 8-5 victory over Jill Officer and Reid Carruthers. Jones andNichols beat Chelsea Carey and Colin Hodgson 8-7 in an extra end in the other morning elimination game at Stride Place.
Jones and Nichols — who have both won Olympic gold for Canada in four-player events — were eliminated with the loss.
“Obviously we’re hugely disappointed,” Jones said. “We came here to win, but I’m proud of how we played. Mark is a great teammate and I had a lot of fun.”
The winners of the entire event will be crowned on Sunday, and will represent Canada at the Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, in February.
Every draw of the trials will be live streamed on CBCSports.ca and the CBC Sports app. In addition, coverage of the final two days of the event, including the playoffs and final, will be available on CBC TV as part of the Road to the Olympic Games broadcast Saturday and Sunday.
Click here for a full schedule.
