Mixed emotions
Canada loses two-person curling debut
GANGNEUNG, South Korea — It started with a light show and an atmosphere of anticipation for a sporting discipline that was making its debut before the opening ceremony of the 2018 Olympic Winter Games.
The stands were full, the fans were vocal and it was evident that mixed doubles curling had arrived and was making an early splash.
You could feel the excitement in the building for an event that could also be called “fast curling.” Let’s face it, it’s not hockey or auto racing, but compared to the four-person game it’s fast.
Kaitlyn Lawes of Winnipeg and John Morris of Canmore, Alta., were on the ice, performing in front of 3,500 fans, and trying to put aside the distraction of curling during an historic moment for the sport.
They wound up losing — a 9-6 shocker against Norway — but Lawes was still able to embrace the significance of playing in such a meaningful game for the sport of curling.
“To be able to slide over the Olympic rings and feel as though we’re part of something historic is really powerful and special,” Lawes said Thursday morning at the Gangneung Curling Centre. “It’s something I’ll never forget.”
The loss is something they need to forget quickly.
Morris, in particular, did not have a strong game, with three of his missed shots in the final three ends contributing heavily to the loss.
“We had a strong game overall, there were just three key shots in the later ends that I didn’t execute,” Morris said. “That was the turning point of that game. If I make any of them, we’re in a real good position. I’ve just got to pick up the ice a little bit better so if I do miss, it’s not a killer miss. Those three were.”
The most costly miss came in the eighth end. With Canada lying two, Morris tried to bump back a Norwegian rock in the four foot to lie three. However, he hit it on an angle and wound up promoting it, removing his own rock and leaving Norway lying one. After Norway’s Kristin Skaslien put another rock in the four-foot to lie two, Lawes had to try a delicate raise just for one and she was not able to execute.
“We weren’t in a great position,” Morris said. “We were lying two, but they had a few outs. We wanted to make sure we gave Kaitlyn a shot for two so we played a more aggressive call that would have had a better result and I missed it the wrong way. I just couldn’t hit it on the outside there.
“You’ve just got to park that one and make sure we bounce back.”
Canada is back on the ice Thursday night against the American team of Becca Hamilton and Matt Hamilton.
Perhaps things will settle down now that the historic first draw is out of the way, but don’t expect the atmosphere to change.
The South Korean team of Hyeji Jang and Kiyeong Lee plays on every draw — they beat Finland 9-4 on the next sheet on Thursday morning — and the capacity crowd was right into the game.
The South Korean win prompted a standing ovation from the enthusiastic local fans, who seemed to understand the game, and were completely into the action but were respectful of the traditions of curling.
Though Canada has very little history in mixed doubles curling — the country’s first medal at the world championship, a silver, came from Reid Carruthers and Joanne Courtney last year — it has to be considered a medal favourite, given the quality of its team members.
Lawes (2014 with Jennifer Jones) and Morris (2010 with Kevin Martin) are both already Olympic gold medallists and they are two of the best Canada has to offer. They are both strategists and shot makers and both have spent plenty of time in their careers sweeping rocks. That seems to be a very strong combination for mixed doubles.
That makes the openingdraw loss a little stunning. Lawes (72%) and Morris (80% both out-curled their counterparts statistically (Skaslien was 61% and
Magnus Nedregotten 79%), but were done in by their own mistakes.
“I’ve got to be better than that,” Morris said.
Still, while Canada was the loser on this day, this was a big win for the sport of curling.