麻豆社区

Four Yukon curlers will take to the ice today as the inaugural Canadian Mixed Doubles Trials national championship begins in Leduc, Alta.

Robert and Jody Smallwood qualified as a provincial-territorial winner in Whitehorse last month, while Mitch Young and Chelsea Duncan are one of the open entry teams.

Last month, Young teamed up with Sarah Sears of Nova Scotia to win gold at the first-ever mixed doubles competition at the national junior championships in Fort McMurray.

It was the first time he had ever tried mixed doubles.

Mixed doubles play begins today and runs until Sunday at the Leduc Recreation Centre.

Also beginning today, two Yukon rinks will attempt to battle their way into the main draw of the Canadian Senior Men's and Women's Curling Championships in Summerside, P.E.I.

The two senior Yukon rinks are skipped by Ray Mikkelsen and Leslie Grant.

In Leduc, the mixed doubles championship will feature 32 teams in four pools of eight. The top two in each pool following the round robin will move on to the playoffs, along with four teams with the next-best record.

The gold medal game is scheduled for Sunday at 4 p.m. MT.

The mixed doubles game is much different than the traditional curling game.

Games are played over eight ends rather than the usual 10, and teams play with only six stones.

Prior to each end, one stone is pre-positioned on the centre line for each team. The team with the hammer has a rock placed on the centre line behind the button, while the opposing team has a rock on the centre line in front of the house as a guard.

One player curls the first and last stone, while the other throws rocks two through four. Teams cannot remove rocks from play until the delivery of their fourth stone.

"This type of curling is unique for me,鈥� Robert Smallwood said. "Fifty per cent of it is up to yourself. With two people, you have a little bit more control.鈥�

The Smallwoods hope to put together a hot streak in Leduc.

"It would be nice to qualify for the playoffs, but there's 32 teams, so there's going to be a lot of people thinking the same thing,鈥� Smallwood said.

Young said teaming up with Duncan, who played third with junior skip Sarah Koltun at the national junior championships, was a no-brainer. Young attends university in Calgary, while Duncan is in Edmonton.

Young said he and Duncan will be shooting for a playoff spot this weekend.

"I'd love to make the playoffs and do well in it,鈥� he said. "I really don't know the level of competition, because it's my first time. Not really any expectations, but I don't want to lose.鈥�

Young said mixing genders helps even the playing field among competing teams.

"Throwing a hard rock doesn't come as much into play,鈥� he said of strategy. "It's more a draw weight game. It's a little more equal.鈥�

Throwing draw weight is a preferred shot for Young, who began his career as a lead and moved up to skip the territory's junior team this year.

"For someone who has been curling as a second or third, coming to mixed doubles is a bit of a rude awakening,鈥� he said.

The championship comes at a time when the World Curling Federation is pushing the International Olympic Committee to include mixed doubles as an official event at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

The winner of this weekend's mixed doubles championship will represent the country at the World Mixed Doubles Championship April 13 to 20 in Fredericton, N.B.

Meanwhile at the senior championships in Summerside, both Yukon rinks will need to qualify for the main round robin through a pre-qualifier.

The four lowest seeds were determined from last year's tournament rankings.

The qualifying round begins today.

The Yukon men's team is skipped by Mikkelsen, and also includes third Darol Stuart, second Walter Wallingham, and lead Dale Enzenauer.

Mikkelsen's rink will battle the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and Nova Scotia to become one of the two teams to advance.

The Yukon women's rink is skipped by Grant, and includes third Corinne Delaire, second Therese Ducharme and lead Lorraine Stick.

Because Nunavut will not compete this year, the Yukon will battle the Northwest Territories and British Columbia for one of two qualifying positions.

Both Yukon rinks represent the Whitehorse Curling Club.

On Saturday, the round robin championship will get underway at the Silver Fox Curling and Yacht Club.

Twelve men's teams and 12 women's teams will battle for their respective titles from March 16 to 24, with the winners going on to represent Canada at the 2014 World Seniors.