Peterman, Gallant remain perfect, advance to Page 1v2 playoff at mixed curling trials

LIVERPOOL, N.S. — Jocelyn Peterman and Brett Gallant continue to roll at the Canadian mixed doubles curling trials.

The duo remained undefeated at the event and advanced to the Page 1 versus 2 game with an 8-4 win over Rachel Homan and Brendan Bottcher in Thursday’s opening playoff draw.

Peterman and Gallant will face Lisa Weagle and John Epping in the 1v2 game on Friday, with the winner advancing directly to Saturday’s final.

The two teams faced off in round-robin play Tuesday, where a fifth-end steal of two powered Peterman and Gallant to a 6-3 win.

“We had a great game with them in the round robin and we expect them to play great in this game,” said Peterman. “We just need to keep doing our thing.”

Epping and Weagle advanced with a 10-5 win over Brittany Tran and Ryan Kleiter on Thursday.

Epping said his duo is playing really well, but has work to do in finding a solution for Peterman and Gallant.

“I mean, obviously, they’re playing great,” he said. “They haven’t lost a game and just beat one of the other top teams in the event. They’re playing fantastic, so we’re going to have to be on our game. But if we play like we did tonight, I think we have a good chance.”

Tran and Kleiter will face Jennifer Jones and Brent Laing on Friday while Homan and Bottcher will take on the father-daughter team of Jim and Jaelyn Cotter. The winners will move on to the Page 3v4 playoff while the losers will be eliminated.

The winner of the 3v4 game will take on the loser of the 1v2 game in a semifinal, with the winner of that matchup getting the second spot in the final.

The trials winner can represent Canada in the 2026 Olympic Games if the duo also finishes high enough at the 2025 world championship to qualify their country for Italy.

The Olympic field will include the top eight ranked countries in the world, or the top seven plus host Italy if the Italians aren’t in the top eight. Canada currently ranks fifth.

Tran and Kleiter entered the playoffs on a roll after they clinched first place in Pool A with a 6-1 record following an 8-6 win over Paige Papley and Evan Van Amsterdam earlier Thursday.

Homan and Bottcher also finished at 6-1 following a 6-4 win over Jones and Laing, but lost to Tran and Kleiter on Wednesday and settled for second.

Jones and Laing finished third in the pool and qualified for the playoffs at 4-3 after Laura Walker and Kirk Muyres lost 7-5 to Nancy Martin and Steve Laycock (2-5).

Walker and Muyres also finished 4-3 but Jones and Laing held the tiebreaker.

Jessica Zheng and Victor Pietrangelo (3-4) posted a 7-4 win over Robert Desjardins and Anne-Sophie Gionest (1-6) in the other match of the final round-robin draw.

Weagle and Epping locked up second place in Pool B, while the Cotters also advanced to the playoffs with a win in Thursday’s early draw.

Weagle and Epping finished the preliminary round with a 5-2 record after posting a 9-5 win over Tyrel Griffith and Jennifer Armstrong (3-4).

The victors put the game away after following a three-point fifth end with back-to-back steals of one.

The Cotters (4-3) locked up third spot in the group with an 8-7 win over Riley Sandham and Brendan Craig (1-6).

That moved the Cotters into a tie with defending champions Kadriana and Colton Lott. The Cotter team had the tiebreak after defeating the Lotts earlier in the tournament.

The Lotts missed a chance to advance after losing 9-6 to Peterman and Gallant.

In Thursday’s other early result, Taylor Reese-Hansen and Corey Chester (2-5) posted an 8-4 win over Melissa Adams and Alex Robichaud (2-5).

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 2, 2025.

The Canadian Press