Homan/Bottcher are out, and the kids are alright
Ontario’s Serena Gray-Withers and Victor Pietrangelo stole the eighth and final end of their semifinal to upset the favoured Rachel Homan/Brendan Bottcher pairing 5-4 at the Canadian Mixed Doubles Curling Championship in Surrey, B.C.
It was another display of youth curling power, which fans witnessed earlier on Friday and also prior to the playoff round.
Tied 4-4 coming home in one semifinal and facing a pair of opposing counters in the eight-foot rings, Homan – the Olympic bronze medal fours skip – came a tad heavy with her draw and and Pietrangelo, urged on by his partner, brushed the stone hard.
After handshakes, Gray-Withers and Pietrangelo embraced as the crowd roared from the side stands. The final score was 6-4.
Insane curling ride • Amanda Wong-Curling CanadaPietrangelo throws lead for Ontario’s Jayden King, who made a surprise playoff appearance at the recent Brier in St. John’s, NL.
Withers skips a young Alberta women’s fours team that incudes Zoe Cinnamon, who was competing in the other semifinal with partner Johnson Tao.
The other semifinal was an insane curling ride.
The undefeated Ontario pairing of Katie Ford and Oliver Campbell took four in the first end, stole two in the second and scored another pair in the fourth for an 8-2 lead.
Cinnamon/Tao then scored a four of their own, stole the sixth end held their opponents to a single point in the seventh end.
Zoe Cinnamon • Amanda Wong-Curling CanadaComing home down 9-7, Cinnamon ended the roller-coaster affair by making a runback raise-double to score four and win the match 11-9.
With that stunner, a new generation – a “NextGen” – of young competitors have served notice to the Canadian curling establishment early in 2026.
The championship final gets underway at 1:00 p.m. Pacific Time, and can be viewed live or delayed on Curling Canada’s YouTube channel.