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

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Canada’s Olympic straightening groups are ultimately complete

Rocks beginning flying in Beijing in 20 period, nevertheless got until today for Canada to announce the best admission. John Morris and Rachel Homan will safeguard the combined increases silver medal that Morris won in 2018 with former teammate Kaitlyn Lawes.

Homan and Morris happened to be among the list of 16 groups that have been supposed to compete for Canada’s area within the Olympic competition in the nationwide mixed increases tests in Manitoba before the show is cancelled finally thirty days. A Curling Canada-led committee invested the last few months determining which duo to deliver to Asia, weighing factors like previous mixed-doubles performance combined with intercontinental profits in conventional curling. Another showy pairing when you look at the flowing ended up being reigning Scotties champ Kerri Einarson and 2014 Olympic men’s room silver medallist Brad Jacobs. There is also considerable lobbying from users whom dedicate on their own to mixed increases and genuinely believe that should depend.

But, in conclusion, talent claimed completely. If the objective would be to deliver the team with the finest roof, then your choice panel decided about most apparent pick. Morris, 43, try an established Olympic musician exactly who obtained a men’s gold medal because third for Kevin before you take the blended doubles concept with Lawes in 2018. The 32-year-old Homan the most successful curlers ever before, with three Scotties brands and some sort of tournament in her trophy case. And theirs is not any shotgun partnership. Homan and Morris have actually starred combined doubles with each other since 2015. Morris looked to Lawes four in years past after Homan obtained dabble visitors the Canadian ladies’ trials, which produced the woman ineligible for Olympic blended doubles because of the Curling Canada rules prohibiting any person from fighting in more than one curling show at the same Games.

As for Lawes, she’s going to Beijing too as a member with the Jennifer Jones-skipped rink that won the Canadian ladies’ tests in acquired the men’s. In Gushue and Jones, Canada have a former Olympic gold medallist at miss in regarding the conventional styling competitions in Beijing.

Now that we eventually see folks who is playing for Canada, let us get an easy glance at the three Olympic curling competitions and exactly what the Canadian teams is dealing with:

1st, let’s enjoyed the efficiency in the Olympic styling tournaments. All three events begin with a 10-team round robin, plus the top four advance towards the semifinals. The semifinal winners wager gold. The semifinal losers wager bronze. No Page playoffs, no strange triple-knockout brackets to decipher. Effortless.

In 2018, when combined increases produced their Olympic debut with an eight-team event, Morris and Lawes were a wrecking basketball. After losing their particular opener to Norway, they reeled down eight direct gains to simply take silver, like a 10-3 demolition of Switzerland in final.

The silver-medal Swiss duo of Jenny Perret and Martin Rios become back for Beijing. Very may be the Norwegian pairing of Kristin Skaslien and Magnus Nedregotten, who had been given bronze following the guy on the Russian team that overcome them failed a doping test. Besides Homan, truly the only additional big-name skip mixed up in combined increases contest is Great Britain’s Bruce Mouat, a two-time European men’s champ just who grabbed silver at men’s planets a year ago.

A big storyline in Beijing will be Homan’s try to redeem herself from a devastating revealing within the ladies’ event in 2018. The lady professionals went 4-5 and turned into the first Canadian rink to overlook the playoffs in the Olympics.

The mixed increases show will get underway Feb. 2 at 7:05 a.m. ET, and Homan and Morris bring their unique first video game that evening at 8:05 p.m. ET vs. britain. The semifinals are on the day of age could be the next day at 7:05 a.m. ET.

Canada also flopped within show in 2018, with Kevin Koe’s teams dropping into the semifinals to eventual champion John Shuster from the U.S. right after which getting distressed by Switzerland in bronze-medal video game. Before these Games, no Canadian curling staff have actually ever did not win a medal. In Pyeongchang, both standard groups did.

For Gushue, a lot changed since the guy obtained their Olympic gold medal in Italy 16 years back. In the past, he was a skilled though notably raw youngster whom put last stones but leaned on the celebrated Russ Howard to phone games through the second place (into the formal Olympic reports, Howard was listed once the miss). Today Gushue is adult – a 41-year-old dad of two who’s completely in demand of his art. He grabbed three Brier brands from 2017-20 and some sort of title in ’17. Gushue took proper care of businesses since preferred from the Canadian tests in e on the way to beating Jacobs when you look at the last.

Your competition in Beijing should be hard. It provides Shuster, Mouat and five-time world champion Nik Edin of Sweden, that’s trying to find 1st Olympic silver after having bronze in 2014 and silver in ’18. The contest starts Feb. 8 at 7:05 a.m. ET, when Canada face Denmark. The semis would be the early morning of age try Feb. 18 at 1:05 a.m. ET.

Jennifer Jones is actually curling royalty – the champ of a record-tying six Scotties, a two-time community winner and an Olympic gold medallist in 2014. But the girl triumph during the Canadian studies had been a bit of a shock. At 47, Jones ended up being regarded as past the lady primary, & most perceiver rated her behind Homan, Einarson and also the red-hot Tracy Fleury. As expected, Jones destroyed to all or any of them for the round robin. But when the chips happened to be down she emerged through, trouncing Krista McCarville within the semis before taking the ultimate from an undefeated Fleury in an extra end.

In Beijing, Jones shall be facing 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). There is also the champion associated with the finally two world titles – Switzerland’s Silvana Tirinzoni – and 2013 industry champ Eve Muirhead of good Britain, which grabbed Olympic bronze in 2014.