Sports

No mixed feelings in mixed doubles in King Curling

March 1, 2018   ·   0 Comments

By Shellee Morning
King Curling Club
With the completion of the 2018 Olympic Winter Games, sports enthusiasts will be feeling “sports withdrawal” if you will, and begin the process of getting back to reality.
The return to normal sleeping schedules will be welcome after the late night or early rising to watch our Canadian athletes. Congratulations to all of Canada’s athletes for their proud representation and fine performances.
The newest craze in the curling world in its inaugural Olympic appearance is the Mixed Doubles, and Team Canada brought home the first ever gold medal in that event. The energetic response to this latest curling format has caught the interest and attention of many globally, including our own local King Curling Club.
Hosting their second mixed doubles night this past weekend, the sheets of King were full with curlers grasping the strategic game of doubles. The quick, full work-out game, that has one man and one women making up the team throwing a total of five rocks per end. One rock from each team is “placed” on the ice to begin the end. The team with the hammer placing their stone on the back four-foot ring while the other team places their stone as a centre line guard. The skip throws first and fifth stones, while the team mate throws stones two, three and four. The concept to scoring remains the same, with the stone closest to the button counting. The strategy begins by deciding how the team will play the end, because without the traditional four players per team, the thrower will have to either get up quickly to chase and sweep their own stone, or decide if they should use their mate to stand in the house to call the line.
The evening was designed as a way to encourage curlers to experience mixed doubles action as the interest has already sparked the conversation for a new doubles league. As always, the fun and camaraderie being the main ingredient to the hurry hard crew, the shots of draw making that followed were at their finest. The general consensus after the games was highly positive and very encouraging. Many enjoyed the speed of the game and the greater selection of shot making between two people. Anyone wishing to learn more about mixed doubles or curling itself is encouraged to visit the club website at www.kingcurling.com
The Olympic stage is the biggest there is for our top athletes, but for local sport, the club league championships presents its own big stage and can feel no different when it comes to nerves. The pressures of doing your best when the moment arrives to shine, all the while conquering and controlling the emotions, are one of the hardest things to master.
Men’s League A Division currently has a five-point separation between first and sixth place, with only a two-point difference between Team Davis and Brown, who sit in first and second. The Ladies league, with 10 teams in the roster and two games remaining, sees Team Gorsline and Sinclair tied for first with Morning knocking at the door in third. Mixed Team Entry A Group has Barber in first and Boynton in second with 2.5 points difference. Very tightly grouped together in the B Group between the top three teams are Broad in first with 16.1 and Robinson at 15.9 while Morning sits at 15.1 for third.
Wednesday Social presently sees Team Kolb sitting in first place so far with a four-point lead, ahead of Teams Petersen and Rhind that are tied for second. Friday Social consists of two groups, with Teams Duffy, McKenzie and Stewart all tied for first. Team Wasylkiw is in the lead by one in group two, where the entire division is separated by only four. Meanwhile, the Sunday Social league, with its nine teams, is currently separated by six points from top to bottom, with Team Beck in the lead by a single point over Team Donaldson.
In just a few weeks, the nerves of steel will be apparent in the search of this year’s champions.

         

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