Last week’s 2023 Mixed Doubles Championship saw some heated action at the McArthur Island Curling Club in Kamloops, with 20 teams battling it out for the coveted championship crown.

Draw One, on Tuesday afternoon, saw ten teams take to ice across five sheets. In this round of play, Team Alyssa Kyllo/Chad Kyllo defeated Team Ashley Dezura/Grant Dezura 9-6; Team Hannah Durrant/Zane Bartlett topped Team Kaelen Coles-Lyster/Christian Klein9-4; Team Steph Jackson-Baier/Cam de Jong overcame Team Courtney Woo/Daniel Wenzek 6-5; and Team Sarah Loken/Cody Tanaka beat Team Kayla Wilson/Troy Cowan 6-5.

Tuesday evening and Draw Two saw Team Elizabeth Bowles/Brayden Carpenter win 8-5 over Team Jaelyn Cotter/Jim Cotter; Team Angie Bennett/Chris Beatty over Team Karly King Simpson/Connar Croteau 10-3; and Team Shannon Ward/Robbie Gallaugher over Shawna Jensen/Daniel Deng 5-4.

Draw Three, on Wednesday morning, saw five of McArthur Island’s sheets in action, with Woo/Wenzek taking Coles-Lyster/Klein 9-7; Durrant/Bartlett over Jackson-Baier/de Jong 8-5; Loken/Tanaka over Reese-Hansen/Chester 6-4; Cowan/Wilson over Team Marijke McDonald/Calder Fadden8-3; and Team Sarah Wark/Andrew Nerpin over Kyllo/Kyllo 7-4.

At noon, Draw Four saw Team Diane Gushulak/Patrick Prade defeat Bennett/Beatty 9-8; Team Maya Belway/Cam Weir over Ward/Gallaugher 6-5; and Bowles/Carpenter over Team Megan McGillivray/Logan Miron 7-3.

Wednesday afternoon saw another big group of games in Draw Five, with Cotter/Cotter taking Kyllo/Kyllo 10-4; Woo/Wenzek over Ward Gallaugher 9-7; Cowan/Wilson over McGillivray/Miron 9-8; Reese-Hansen/Chester over Dezura/Dezura 8-1; Jackson-Baier/de Jong over King Simpson/Croteau 6-2; and Jensen/Deng over Bennett/Beatty 10-0.

Thursday morning, Draw Six saw Belway/Weir take Loken/Tanaka 6-4; Bowles/Carpenter over Gushulak/Prade 6-3; And Wark/Nerpin 9-0 over Durrant/Bartlett.

In Draw Seven, at noon, it was McGillivray/Miron over Bennett/Beatty 8-4; Jensen/Deng over Cowan/Wilson 6-5; Woo/Wenzek over Reese-Hansen/Chester 5-4; Jackson-Baier/de Jong over Cotter/Cotter 8-7; and Dezura/Dezura over Ward Gallaugher 6-4.

Thursday afternoon, in Draw Eight, it was Cotter/Cotter over McGillivray/Miron 10-5; Kyllo/Kyllo over Coles-Lyster/Klein 9-6; King Simpson/Croteau over McDonald/Fadden 8-3; and Cowan/Wilson over Dezura/Dezura 7-3.

That evening, in Draw 9, it was Loken/Tanaka over Jackson-Baier/de Jong 9-7; Jensen/Deng over Durrant/Bartlett 8-6; and Woo/Wenzek over Gushulak/Prade 8-6.

Friday morning, Draw 11 saw Gushulak/Prade over King Simpson/Croteau 7-5; Reese-Hansen/Chester over Cotter/Cotter 7-5; Cowan/Wilson over Jackson-Baier/de Jong; and Durrant/Bartlett over Kyllo/Kyllo 9-7.

In the afternoon, Draw 11 saw Reese-Hansen over Cowan/Wilson 6-3, and Gushulak/Prade over Durrant/Bartlett 8-1.

Friday night’s games, making up Draw 12, saw Belway/Weir over Gushulak/Prade 8-6; Jensen/Deng over Woo/Wenzek 6-5; Loken/Tanaka over Bowles/Carpenter 6-5; and Reese-Hansen/Chester over Wark/Nerpin 8-6.

As the event moved into the weekend, Saturday morning’s Draw 13 saw Woo/Wenzek over Wark/Nerpin 9-8; Loken/Tanaka over Belway/Weir 10-8; Reese-Hansen/Chester over Jensen/Deng 8-1; and Gushulak/Prade over Bowles/Carpenter 4-3.

Draw 14, on Saturday afternoon, saw Jensen/Deng over Gushulak/Prade 6-5 and Woo/Wenzek over Belway/Weir 11-7.

With Saturday night came Draw 15 and the semi-finals, with Loken/Tanaka over Reese-Hansen/Chester 7-2 and Woo/Wenzek over Jensen/Deng 7-5.

Sunday morning saw the bronze medal game, with Reese-Hansen/Chester defeating Woo-Wenzek 8-6 and securing their spot in the championship game.

At 1:00, Teams Reese-Hansen/Chester and Loken/Tanka took to the ice, and found themselves in a 2-2 tied going into the third end. Reese-Hansen/Chester broke out in the third, racking up a 6-3 lead by the end of the seventh, but then Loken/Tanaka came roaring back to put three on the board in the eighth, and then the winning point in the ninth. In the end, Loken/Tanaka took the game—and the championship—7-6.

Along with six days of top-notch play and exciting competition, the success of the championships was in large part due to the hard work of the event’s host committee, led by Michael Galesloot. There was also an excellent playing surface, tended by chief ice technician/facility manager Andrew McDiarmid and his talented crew, and excellent officiating overseen by chief umpire Ted Anderson and deputy chief umpire Luci Tremblay, as well as Kathy Arnold, who organized all the live scoring and live streaming volunteers.

Also crucial to the success of the event was the assistance of The City of Kamloops, the Government of British Columbia, and viaSport for their ongoing support through the Hosting BC program.

Sarah Loken and Cody Tanaka will now go on to represent British Columbia in the 2023 Canadian Mixed Doubles Championship in Sudbury, ON, from March 21-26.