Big-name curlers include tasked with recapturing Canada’s Olympic magnificence

Homan and Morris to become listed on Gushue, Jones in Beijing

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Canada’s Olympic curling teams become ultimately total

Rocks starting traveling in Beijing in 20 era, nevertheless got until this morning for Canada to declare the best admission. John Morris and Rachel Homan will defend the mixed doubles gold medal that Morris acquired in 2018 with previous teammate Kaitlyn Lawes.

Homan and Morris comprise among the 16 groups that were likely to contend for Canada’s place in the Olympic event within national mixed increases studies in Manitoba before the show got cancelled last thirty days. A Curling Canada-led panel invested the previous few weeks choosing which duo to deliver to Asia, considering issue including present mixed-doubles performance with worldwide triumph in standard straightening. Another flashy pairing inside running got reigning Scotties champ Kerri Einarson and 2014 Olympic men’s gold medallist Brad Jacobs. There seemed to be in addition substantial lobbying from users exactly who dedicate themselves to blended increases and believe should rely.

But, in the end, ability claimed around. In the event the goals should submit the team aided by the finest ceiling, then your variety committee established in the most apparent pick. Morris, 43, is a proven Olympic performer just who obtained a men’s gold medal since the next for Kevin before taking the combined increases concept with Lawes in 2018. The 32-year-old Homan is one of the most winning curlers actually ever, with three Scotties games and some sort of tournament in her own trophy circumstances. And theirs isn’t any shotgun partnership. Homan and Morris has played combined increases along since 2015. Morris looked to Lawes four years back after Homan claimed the Canadian women’s studies, which made the woman ineligible for Olympic mixed increases as a result of the styling Canada coverage prohibiting any person from competing in more than one curling show in one Games.

For Lawes, she actually is going to Beijing as well as a part of this Jennifer Jones-skipped rink that obtained the Canadian ladies’ tests in claimed the men’s room. In Gushue and Jones, Canada could have an old Olympic gold medallist at skip both in associated with the traditional curling competitions in Beijing.

Now that we ultimately learn anyone who is playing for Canada, let us capture a fast check out the three Olympic straightening tournaments and exactly what the Canadian groups tend to be dealing with:

Initially, let us appreciate the comfort associated with Olympic curling tournaments. All three occasions start off with a 10-team circular robin, and the leading four advance to the semifinals. The semifinal winners wager silver. The semifinal losers play for bronze. No web page playoffs, no odd triple-knockout brackets to decipher. Effortless.

In 2018, when combined doubles made the Olympic introduction with an eight-team show, Morris and Lawes happened to be a wrecking baseball. After dropping their own opener to Norway, they reeled down eight right victories to take gold, such as a 10-3 demolition of Switzerland from inside the last.

The silver-medal Swiss duo of Jenny Perret and Martin Rios are back for Beijing. Very will be the Norwegian pairing of Kristin Skaslien and Magnus Nedregotten, have been granted bronze after the people on the Russian employees that beat all of them failed a doping test. Besides Homan, truly the only different big-name miss mixed up in blended increases competition is Great Britain’s Bruce Mouat, a two-time European men’s room champ just who grabbed gold in the men’s globes just last year.

A large storyline in Beijing are going to be Homan’s make an effort to redeem by herself from a devastating revealing for the women’s occasion in 2018. This lady personnel gone 4-5 and turned into 1st Canadian rink to overlook the playoffs during the Olympics.

The blended doubles celebration becomes underway Feb. 2 at 7:05 a.m. ET, and Homan and Morris perform their very first games that nights at 8:05 p.m. ET vs. the uk. The semifinals are on the early morning of age may be the next day at 7:05 a.m. ET.

Canada in addition flopped within this occasion in 2018, with Kevin Koe’s personnel losing from inside the semifinals to eventual winner John Shuster associated with the U.S. and then acquiring troubled by Switzerland from inside the bronze-medal online game. Before these Games, no Canadian straightening team had ever did not win a medal. In Pyeongchang, both conventional teams did.

For Gushue, lots changed since he obtained his Olympic gold medal in Italy 16 years ago. In those days, he had been a skilled but still notably natural child whom put fourth rocks but leaned from the renowned Russ Howard to contact games through the 2nd situation (in official Olympic documents, Howard are noted as the miss). Today Gushue is all grown up – a 41-year-old parent of two that is completely in demand of their create. He caught three Brier titles from 2017-20 and some sort of title in ’17. Gushue took care of companies since favorite within Canadian trials in age en route to beating Jacobs when you look at the best.

The competition in Beijing are tough. It provides Shuster, Mouat and five-time business champion Nik Edin of Sweden, that is wanting 1st Olympic gold after getting bronze in 2014 and gold in ’18. The tournament opens up Feb. 8 at 7:05 a.m. ET, whenever Canada deals with Denmark. The semis will be the day of elizabeth is actually Feb. 18 at 1:05 a.m. ET.

Jennifer Jones are curling royalty – the winner of a record-tying six Scotties, a two-time industry winner and an Olympic gold medallist in 2014. But her victory in the Canadian tests was a bit of a surprise. At 47, Jones was actually regarded as being past their finest, & most observers rated the lady behind Homan, Einarson and red-hot Tracy Fleury. Sure-enough, Jones shed to ones during the circular robin. Nevertheless when the chips comprise down she arrived through, trouncing Krista McCarville for the semis before taking the ultimate from an undefeated Fleury in an extra conclusion.

In Beijing, Jones will likely be up against all three medallists from 2018: protecting champ Anna Hasselborg of Sweden, southern area Korea’s Kim Eun-jung (sterling silver) and Japan’s Satsuki Fujisawa (bronze). Additionally the winner regarding the latest two globe titles – Switzerland’s Silvana Tirinzoni – and 2013 globe champ Eve Muirhead of good Britain, which got Olympic bronze in 2014.