Road to Italy begins in Liverpool with Canadian Mixed Doubles Curling Trials
Published
Two Canadian curlers will ring in the New Year with one of the biggest wins of their careers.
The Canadian Mixed Doubles Curling Trials will run over the holiday season, from Dec. 30 to Jan. 4, at Queens Place Emera Centre in Liverpool, N.S., as 16 teams will battle it out to earn the right to wear the Maple Leaf at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy.
The winning duo in Liverpool will represent Canada at the 2025 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship in Fredericton, N.B., from April 26 to May 3, and will need a high enough result to earn the country one of the 10 births for the Olympic tournament. The final two spots will be determined at an Olympic Qualifying Event later in the year.
Unlike previous Trials, the 2025 version will take place a full 14 months ahead of the Olympics, giving the winners ample time to prepare to be Team Canada on the biggest stage of the sport.
Additionally, the winner of the Canadian Mixed Doubles Curling Trials can also compete in traditional curling at the Olympics if their four-person team qualifies. Those trials are set to take place Nov. 22-30, 2025, in Halifax.
John Morris and Kaitlyn Lawes represented Canada at the first mixed doubles Olympic event in 2018 after winning the trials and proceeded to capture gold in Pyeongchang, South Korea. The 2021 trials were cancelled amid the COVID-19 pandemic as Morris and Rachel Homan were chosen by Curling Canada to represent the country in Beijing. The tandem was unable to make the playoffs and missed the podium.
This year’s field is stacked with some of the biggest names in Canadian curling as nearly half of the 16-team field has a decent chance of winning if they can get hot over the holidays.
The field will be split into two groups of eight for a seven-game round robin. Following round-robin play, the top three teams from each pool will advance to a six-team playoff. The top two teams in each pool will cross over to play for a direct spot in the 1 vs. 2-page playoff while the losers will battle the third-place teams in the 3 vs. 4-page playoff qualifier. From there, a regular four-team page playoff will commence with the gold-medal match taking place on Jan. 4.
Let’s take a closer look at who will be competing in Liverpool.
Top Contenders
Kadriana Lott/Colton Lott (Gimli, Man.)
Kadriana Lott and Colton Lott
After settling for silver medals on two previous occasions, Kadriana and Colton Lott won their first Canadian Mixed Doubles Championship last season with a dramatic victory over Laura Walker and Kirk Muyres in March.
The duo won 7-5 on a stolen point measure in the final end.
At the 2024 World Mixed Doubles Championship in Sweden, the Lotts posted an 8-1 round robin record, leading the tournament in points scored (82), points allowed (34) and shooting percentage (85.3 per cent). However, they were upset by Estonia, 6-5, in the qualification game and did not play for a medal.
The married couple seem to be in contention at every major event, owning four medals from the Canadian Mixed Doubles Championship.
This will be their first Olympic Trials after missing an opportunity to play three years ago following its cancellation due to COVID-19.
More recently, they dropped the final of the Rocky Mountain Classic to Jocelyn Peterman and Brett Gallant earlier this month.
At 29 and 25, respectively, Colton and Kadriana will be one of the younger teams in Liverpool but still have some of the most experience in mixed doubles.
The Lotts will be one of the teams to beat.
Laura Walker/Kirk Muyres (Edmonton/Humboldt, Sask.)
Laura Walker and Kirk Muyres
Laura Walker and Kirk Muyres, who have been teammates since winning the national title in 2018, announced at the end of the last quadrennial that they would be focusing solely on mixed doubles going forward.
Their commitment to the discipline has earned them the No. 1 spot on the Canadian Mixed Doubles Ranking (CMDR) entering the trials.
Walker and Muyres made it to the final of last year’s national championship where they lost to the Lotts in heartbreaking fashion. They earned bronze at the 2018 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship in Sweden.
With no four-player team to fall back on, Walker and Muyres have put plenty of time and effort in preparation for the trials over the past few seasons. Time will tell if that will be the difference in Nova Scotia.
Jocelyn Peterman/Brett Gallant (Chestermere, Alta.)
Another pair that could easily be standing atop the podium by week’s end is Jocelyn Peterman and Brett Gallant.
Both are part of elite four-person teams – Peterman with Team Kaitlyn Lawes and Gallant with Team Brad Gushue – and have been one of the best mixed doubles teams for nearly a decade.
They each competed at the Beijing Olympics with their four-person teams in 2022. Gallant captured bronze with Gushue while Peterman finished off the podium as a member of Team Jennifer Jones.
Peterman and Gallant, who married in 2022, have made three Canadian Mixed Doubles Championship finals, winning in 2016 and 2019 before losing the 2023 final to Jennifer Jones and Brent Laing.
They earned silver at the 2019 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship in Norway and were chosen to represent the country again at the 2022 worlds after the national event was cancelled due to COVID-19. They missed the podium in Switzerland despite a strong round-robin performance.
Earlier this month, Peterman and Gallant won the Rocky Mountain Classic in Banff with an 8-1 record, beating many of the teams they will see in Liverpool along the way.
This Alberta tandem is loaded with high-level mixed doubles experience and might be the betting favourite to win it all.
Jennifer Jones/Brent Laing (Barrie, Ont.)
Jennifer Jones and Brent Laing
Despite retiring from traditional curling last season, six-time Scotties Tournament of Hearts champion and two-time Olympian Jennifer Jones still has a chance to represent Canada on the biggest stage in curling with a win at the trials.
Playing partner and husband Brent Laing, who has also stepped away from four-person curling, has a stacked resume too, with three Brier and world championship titles as well as an appearance at the 2018 Olympics with Team Kevin Koe.
The duo is just two seasons removed from winning their first Canadian Mixed Doubles Championship in 2023, eventually losing the bronze-medal game at the world championship to a Norwegian team.
They made the final of the St. Thomas Mixed Doubles Classic a few days before Christmas, but lost to Megan Ford and Daniel Krowchuk.
Jones, 50, and Laing, 46, will be one of the older teams at the Trials, but have proven they have plenty left in the tank with their recent mixed doubles efforts and Jones’ appearance in the last two Scotties’ finals before her retirement from four-person curling.
Will it be a third Olympics for Jones?
Rachel Homan/Brendan Bottcher (Beaumont, Alta./Spruce Grove, Alta.)
Rachel Homan and Brendan Bottcher
Rachel Homan and Brendan Bottcher might be the most talented team in Liverpool.
The 35-year-old Homan is in the midst of another historic season as she’s led her Ottawa foursome to a 40-2 record and five wins on Tour. This is coming a year after Team Homan posted a 67-7 record in 2023-24, highlighted by victories at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts and World Women’s Curling Championship.
Homan, alongside John Morris, was Canada’s mixed doubles rep at the last Olympics, her second straight appearance at the Games.
Bottcher, one of the best shooters in the game, is now playing with Team Brad Gushue after getting cut by his team at the end of last season.
This is the first season for Homan and Bottcher as mixed doubles teammates. They won an early September bonspiel in Saskatoon before qualifying for the Trials with a victory in Guelph last month.
Homan and Bottcher definitely have the ability to win the trials, but have they gained enough team chemistry over their short time together to take out perennial contenders like the Lotts, Peterman-Gallant, Walker-Muyres and others?
Dark Horses
Nancy Martin/Steve Laycock (Wakaw, Sask./Saskatoon)
Nancy Martin and Steve Laycock
Veteran curlers Nancy Martin and Steve Laycock qualified for the trials at the end of the 2023-24 season thanks to their strong positioning on the CMDR.
Martin, 51, has played mixed doubles for over a decade and owns silver medals form the 2013 and 2019 national championships.
Martin and Laycock have some previous experience playing together as they just missed the playoffs at the 2018 Canadian Mixed Doubles Curling Championship and dropped a quarter-final clash to the Lotts at last year’s nationals.
The Saskatchewan-based duo have played in seven events this season, making one final and four playoff appearances.
Lisa Weagle/John Epping (Ottawa/Toronto)
Lisa Weagle and John Epping
Lisa Weagle and John Epping have been mixed doubles partners since 2022.
The Ontario tandem dropped a playoff qualifier to Martin and Laycock at last season’s Canadian Mixed Doubles Championship and a quarter-final clash against Jones and Laing at the same event in 2023.
In three events this season, Weagle and Epping have made two finals, winning the Royal Kingston Mixed Doubles Cashspiel in November with a perfect 6-0 record.
They are ranked sixth on the CDMR.
After a couple down years, the 41-year-old Epping is putting together a great season with his new four-person team as the Sudbury-based group has won four times on Tour.
Riley Sandham/Brendan Craig (Guelph, Ont.)
Riley Sandham and Brendan Craig
Riley Sandham and Brendan Craig might be the best Canadian mixed doubles tandem you’ve never heard of.
Ranked third in Canada, Sandham and Craig have won three mixed doubles bonspiels this season in seven tries. Against top contenders in Jones-Laing, Walker-Muyres, Weagle-Epping and Homan-Bottcher, they own a 2-3 record.
At last year’s national championship, they went 4-3 in the round robin before dropping the qualification game to Peterman and Gallant by a score of 7-6.
Coached by mixed doubles specialist Wayne Tuck Jr., the Guelph duo is fully capable of competing for a playoff spot at the trials.
Brittany Tran/Rylan Kleiter (Calgary/Saskatoon)
Rylan Kleiter
Brittany Tran and Rylan Kleiter booked their spot for the Canadian Mixed Doubles Curling Trials after topping Weagle and Epping in the final of the first Direct-Entry event back in early November.
Kleiter finished fourth at last year’s Canadian Mixed Doubles Curling Championship playing with Madison Kleiter.
This is the first season Tran and Kleiter have played mixed doubles together. At No. 19, they will be the lowest-ranked team on the CMDR in Liverpool.
Jennifer Armstrong/Tyrel Griffith (Rothesay, N.B./Kelowna, B.C.)
Jennifer Armstrong and Tyrel Griffith
Thanks to a semifinal appearance at the Rocky Mountain Classic earlier this month, Jennifer Armstrong and Tyrel Griffith have a chance to compete with the best mixed doubles curlers in Canada at the trials.
Armstrong and Griffith needed to qualify via the final Direct Entry event in Banff as their No. 16 ranking on the CMDR wasn’t high enough to get them to Liverpool.
Griffith, 38, has a silver medal from the 2019 Canadian Mixed Doubles Curling Championship when he played with Nancy Martin and went 3-5 at the 2018 Trials alongside Sherry Just.
The Field
Taylor Reese-Hansen/Corey Chester (Kitimat, B.C./Victoria)
Taylor Reese-Hansen and Corey Chester
British Columbia’s Taylor Reese-Hansen and Corey Chester posted an impressive 6-1 record during round-robin play at last year’s national championship before losing in the quarters to Madison and Rylan Kleiter.
Ranked seventh in Canada, Reese-Hansen and Chester won a mid-November bonspiel in Parksville, B.C.
Anne-Sophie Gionest/Robert Desjardins (Alma, Que. /Saguenay, Que.)
Anne-Sophie Gionest and Robert Desjardins
Alongside partner Isabelle Néron, Quebec’s Robert Desjardins won the inaugural Canadian Mixed Doubles Curling Championship in 2013.
The 54-year-old has been a mainstay at the annual tournament, usually playing with his daughter, Emilie.
Desjardins went 4-4 at the 2018 Olympic Trials.
Last year’s Canadian championship was his first with current partner Anne-Sophie Gionest, as the pair missed the playoffs with a 3-4 record.
Ranked eighth in Canada, Gionest and Desjardins have qualified in all five of their 2024-25 events, earning a lone finals appearance in September.
Melissa Adams/Alex Robichaud (Fredericton, N.B.)
Melissa Adams and Alex Robichaud
Melissa Adams and Alex Robichaud enter the Canadian Mixed Doubles Curling Trials ranked 12th on the CMDR.
Adams and Robichaud have represented New Brunswick at the past three Canadian Mixed Doubles Curling Championships, missing the playoffs each time and owning a total record of 6-14.
Adams, 47, has also appeared in five Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
Jessica Zheng/Victor Pietrangelo (Niagara Falls, Ont.)
Jessica Zheng and Victor Pietrangelo
Ranked 11th in Canada, Jessica Zheng and Victor Pietrangelo of Niagara Falls are having a solid 2024-25 mixed doubles season with two bonspiel victories in October.
They went 4-3 at last year’s national championship, just missing the playoffs.
Paige Papley/Evan Van Amsterdam (Edmonton)
Paige Papley and Evan Van Amsterdam
At last year’s Canadian Mixed Doubles Curling Championship, Edmonton’s Paige Papley and Evan Van Amsterdam finished first in their pool with a 5-2 record before losing the quarter-final round to Peterman and Gallant.
The tandem is ranked 13th in Canada and have played two events this season, making one final.
Jaelyn Cotter/Jim Cotter (Vernon, B.C.)
Jaelyn Cotter and Jim Cotter
Veteran Brier curling Jim Cotter will compete at this year’s trials with his 24-year-old daughter, Jaelyn.
The pair have played mixed doubles together as far back as 2016.
They made the playoffs at the Canadian Mixed Doubles Championship for the first time last season with a 4-3 record, losing in the qualification round.
Jaelyn and Jim, ranked 14th in Canada, have played five events this season, making one playoff appearance.
The 50-year-old Jim Cotter earned a silver medals at both the 2013 Canadian Olympic Curling Trials and 2014 Brier.