IDESON AND HENRY TO REP CANADA AS WORLD JUNIOR MIXED DOUBLES RETURNS TO EDMONTON

As one Mixed Doubles World Championship wraps up in Switzerland on Saturday, another is set to get underway in Edmonton on Tuesday. 

For the second straight year, the Saville Community Sports Centre will host the World Junior Mixed Doubles Culing Championship, where pairs from 32 nations will compete for an Under-21 world title. 

The Canadian entry is made up of Brooklyn Ideson and Owen Henry, playing out of Ilderton, Ontario. They won the right to wear the Maple Leaf at a national playdown in Sudbury, Ont. in March. 

“Winning the national event was a true culmination of the hard work we have put in over the past few years,” said Ideson, a 20-year-old environmental sciences student at Western University. “It fuels the competitive fire knowing that the dedication is paying off.” 

“To put it simply, it’s truly an honour to get to wear the Maple Leaf at an event like this,” said Henry, a recent Mathematics and Statistics graduate from Brock University . “Having my junior curling career culminate at this world championship is the perfect ending to this chapter, and hopefully a great steppingstone to the next one.” 

With Kadriana and Colton Lott winning a bronze medal at the World Championship in Geneva, Switzerland this week, Ideson and Henry will look to equal – or surpass – that success at the junior edition of the event. 

The massive field of teams is divided into four pools of eight teams. The Canadians will face the other seven teams in their group in round-robin play, which includes Sweden and Germany, among others.  

Last year’s championship – the first of its kind – featured 29 teams, and was also played in Edmonton. As the championship grows, more and more non-traditional curling nations will participate including entries from Brazil, Kenya, and Nigeria. 

“I’m looking forward to leaving it all out there for our country this week,” Ideson. “We feel prepared for the big moments on the ice, but it will also be amazing to take in the little details of the experience. Feeling the support and cheers from home and across the country is going to be so special.” 

The Canadians are supported by coach (and two-time Paralympic gold medal winner) Mark Ideson, and Team Leader Laura Walker (2018 Mixed Doubles Canadian Champion). 

“Brooklyn, Mark and I were able to have a training camp this week,” said Henry. “By the end of the couple days, we were really happy with the way we were throwing the rock and managing rocks down the ice. We’re in a really good place to hit the ground running in Edmonton.” 

The Canadian duo will start their tournament on Tuesday, May 5 against England. That game will begin at 12:30 pm local time (2:30 pm ET). Score and schedules can be found at https://livescores.worldcurling.org/. Streaming will be available on Youtube at the Curling Stadium Edmonton channel.  

Eight teams will reach the playoffs, and medal-round finals will take place on Sunday, May 10.