CBC PEI has confirmed that PEI’s Brett Gallant, from Team Gushue, and Alberta’s Jocelyn Peterman, from Team Carey, have accepted their Curling Canada invitation to the 2018 Canad Inn Canadian Mixed Doubles Curling Trials, January 2-7 in Portage La Prairie MB, with the winning duo advancing to the Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, where Mixed Doubles is, for the first time, a medal sport. The Olympic mixed doubles competition will get underway on the Thursday prior to the Opening Ceremonies in Pyeongchang.
Jocelyn Peterman and Brett Gallant show off their gold medals after the presentation to the 2016 Canadian Mixed Doubles champions at the Nutana Curling Club in Saskatoon, Sask. (Curling Canada/Darlene Danyliw photo)
Gallant and Peterman are no strangers to the Mixed Doubles format, winning the Canadian title in 2016.
A new agreement with Canada’s Olympic Network will see CBC Sports not only televise the closing weekend of the 2018 Canad Inns Canadian Mixed Doubles Trials, it will provide extensive streaming coverage of the round-robin games leading into the weekend playoffs, both for the 2018 and 2022 Trials. In addition, Radio-Canada will offer live-streaming coverage of the closing weekend of the 2018 Trials.
The Trials will feature 18 teams, split into two pools of nine, and eight teams will move into a modified double-knockout playoff.
Teams qualified for Portage la Prairie by virtue of their results at the past two Canadian Mixed Doubles Championships as well as their standing on the Canadian Mixed Doubles Rankings.
(with info from Curling Canada)