A 23-year-old and an 18-year-old are stealing the show at the mixed doubles national championship in Leduc, Alta.
Colton Lott, 23, and partner Kadriana Sahaidak, 18, are still the only undefeated team at the event and have punched their tickets into the semifinals. They defeated Kalynn Park and Charley Thomas on Saturday night.
“This is all new to me. I’ve never played on arena ice in my life,” Sahaidak said. “I’m kind of lost for words. I was hoping for two wins here.”
The duo curls out of the Winnipeg Beach Curling Club. They’re now two wins away from winning the national title and representing Canada at the world mixed doubles curling championship in Sweden in late April. It won’t be easy though.
They now play Chelsea Carey and Colin Hodgson in one of two semifinals on Sunday morning.
“If you play your game anyone is beatable. We can do this. I know we can,” Lott said.
Defending champions look for another title
Joanne Courtney and Reid Carruthers won the event last year. They would go on to lose in the gold medal game at the world championships in heartbreaking fashion. Now, they want to get back to worlds for redemption.
They’ll go up against Laura Crocker and Kirk Muyres in the other semifinal draw.
Courtney and Carruthers defeated Jocelyn Peterman and Derek Samagalski in the quarter-finals on Saturday night.
“In my mind I’m playing to wear that maple leaf again,” Courtney said. “There are so many great mixed doubles teams here. I’m trying to play without being afraid to miss.”
Carruthers says Courtney has been playing with a lot of confidence this week.
“She’s been the best player on this team this week,” Carruthers said with a smile. “She’s made some beauties.”
Crocker and Muyres are ready to take on the defending champions and also seem to be bursting with confidence heading into the semifinal.
“Our chemistry is great. We play hard. Our intensity is there,” Muyres said. “It would be so cool to wear the maple leaf. That gets me excited. That gets me pumped up.”
Canadian wheelchair curling final set
It’s a battle of prairie curling teams in the national wheelchair championship set for Sunday afternoon in Leduc.
Saskatchewan, skipped by Marie Wright, will play Manitoba, skipped by Dennis Thiessen.
The two were teammates for Canada’s wheelchair team in Pyeongchang just a couple of weeks ago.
Wright was lead and Thiessen played second on the bronze medal-winning team while Manitoba’s Jamie Anseeuw was also there as the alternate.
Now, they’ll square off against each other in the final.
“I’m going to have a thousand butterflies playing against them. I’m ready for it. I play better when I have butterflies,” Wright said.
Thiessen can’t wait to play his teammate.
“Her and I are really good friends. It’s going to be a lot of fun out there,” he said.
Thiessen says his team is brimming with confidence heading into the game.
“It means a lot. My teammates are awesome. After losing the first three, the team was quite down. I told them we could bounce back and here we are.”
