The rocks, steals and comebacks were flying in bunches as the quarterfinals of the 2026 Canadian Mixed Doubles Curling Championship ended in a flurry Thursday evening at the Cloverdale Curling Club in Surrey, B.C.
As a result of the stone storm, Friday morning’s semifinals, set for 9:30 a.m., (all times Pacific) will feature the high-powered skipping duo of Rachel Homan and Brendan Bottcher (7-1, Edmonton) facing Serena Gray-Withers and Victor Pietrangelo (6-2, Niagara Falls, Ont.), and Team Alberta (6-1, Zoe Cinnamon, Johnson Tao, coach Larry Cinnamon) taking on Katie Ford and Oliver Campbell (7-0, Kitchener-Waterloo).
The most dramatic comeback was pulled off by Team Alberta scoring six points in the final two ends for an 11-9 victory over Melissa Adams and Alex Robichaud (6-2, Fredericton). The New Brunswickers had a 6-2 lead after three ends and were up 9-5 after six. But Team Alberta got three in the seventh end and then got a break in the eighth when Adams’ final shot at a takeout for the win sailed wide.
“It was tight,” admitted Cinnamon with a relieved laugh. “Our goal (in the seventh end) was score as many points as possible and see what happens heading into that last end. We ended up scoring three, which is nice, so at least in the last end we only needed to steal one and we ended up scoring three and winning which was a little lucky.
“I actually always say you’ve got to be good to be lucky and you’ve to be lucky to be good. The curling gods were on our side today. Props to our opponents, they played really good. It happens.”
Adams admitted the week may have been mentally exhausting for her and Robichaud. “We’ve been playing really well and so it’s really frustrating when you have a fairly easy shot to win and missed it. It’s tough.”
Cinnamon is glad she won’t face her skip in women’s competition, Gray-Withers, in the semifinal, although they will be going up against a team that hasn’t lost in Team Ford/Campbell.
“Hopefully we can hand them their first defeat,” said Cinnamon.
Team Gray-Withers/Pietrangelo pulled off an eighth-end miracle as well. Trailing 7-4, but holding the hammer, they scored four for an 8-7 win over previously unbeaten Team Ontario , made up of Kira Brunton and Tanner Horgan (6-1, Ottawa, Missassauga, Ont.) and setting up a date with a formidable foe Friday morning in Team Homan/Bottcher.
“I’m going to give credit to my partner (Pietrangelo). Victor was in it the whole game and just kept saying, ‘We’ve got to force without hammer and take two with hammer. We gave up the four pretty early (in the third end) against them so to keep it close and give us a shot to win was huge,” said Gray-Withers, who felt the duo had a good week, 4-2 in the round robin, but are starting to get into form heading into the playoffs.
“We lost a few games just because we didn’t play as well, so we got lots of practice in the round of 12 (Thursday afternoon), but I feel like my partner has been playing super awesome all week. It’s just been about me getting the draws in the right spot. I’m glad I was able to make my last shot,” said Gray-Withers.
“We have a few things to tighten up (against Team Homan/Bottcher) but feeling super happy to be in this position.”
Team Homan/Bottcher took care of business Thursday evening by downing Team Québec (Sophie Sanscartier and Maxandre Caron, Boucherville) 8-4.
“Two good wins for us today. It feels like we’re playing well, and giving ourselves a shot tomorrow,” said Bottcher. “We had one game in the middle that wasn’t our best (against Team Cinnamon/Tao) but otherwise we’ve put together some good games. The ice has been good, we’ve been learning as we’re going.”
Team Ford/Campbell’s unbeaten record was on the line trailing 5-3 after five ends. The situation didn’t appear to brighten significantly when they were only able to score one point in the sixth end, but then stole another in the seventh to tie the game and two more in the eighth for a 7-5 win for yet another comeback victory on wild night of curling in front of a full house.
In the qualification round played Thursday afternoon: Team Homan/Bottcher cruised to an 11-5 victory over Riley and Brendan Craig (St. Catharines, Ont.); Team Gray-Withers/Pietrangelo defeated Team Saskatchewan’s Nancy Martin, Rylan Kleiter and coach Dean Kleiter (Martensville) 10-2; Adams made a nice multiple rock tap up to score two as the and Robichaud got past 2023 Canadian Mixed Doubles Champions Jennifer Jones and Brent Laing (Horseshoe Valley, Ont.) 8-6; and Laura Neil’s last shot draw in the eighth end required a measure with both rocks from each team millimetres from the centre of the button giving her and Scott McDonald (5-3, Kingston, Ont.) a narrow 7-6 victory over Terri Weeks and Samuel Steep (Kitchener-Waterloo).
The semifinals will be played Friday (9:30 a.m.) followed by the final at 1 p.m.
Live streaming of the 2026 Canadian Mixed Doubles Curling Championship is available on Curling Canada’s YouTube channel.
Live scores and standings will be available by CLICKING HERE.
For the schedule and team lineups, go to the official event website: www.curling.ca/2026mixeddoubles/
CLICK HERE for ticket information for the 2026 Canadian Mixed Doubles Championship.
This story will be available in French as soon as possible by CLICKING HERE.
