Ian Belleau, Marie-France Larouche and Éric Sylvain from Etchemin Curling Club, accompanied by Jean-Michel Ménard and Annie Lemay from Des Collines Curling Club (Gatineau region), represented Canada at the World Mixed Curling Championship, held in Scotland from 15th to 15th June 2018. until October 22nd. With an almost perfect course, the Canadian team under coach Éric Sylvain won the gold medal.

In 2021, the mixed curling team won the provincial championship and went to the Canadian championship in the same year to earn that coveted pass to the world championship. The team has consisted of two friendly couples for several years and was founded in 2020 just before the pandemic.

“We decided (a few years ago) to stop the competition because it was too demanding with the kids. So we continued to play in our free time. That meant we didn’t see each other anymore! We therefore started mixed curling in 2020. We decided to sign up for the provincial championship to see what there would be,” says Marie-France Larouche from the start.

While aware that they had the training to compete in both the Canadian Championship and the World Championship, the curlers took nothing for granted and have done since the beginning of their course.

“Even winning the Canadian championship was great because there is a lot of talent in Canada. Team Canada is always a strong and anticipated team at the World Championships. For us it was a beautiful one Trip among friends we were really excited,” Ms. Larouche shares.

A solid course

Thirty-six countries were represented at the World Mixed Curling Championship in Scotland and many were eagerly awaiting the Canadian team.

“We knew we were capable of winning the gold medal. We stayed calm and took the games one by one. We went there to play as well as possible, whether we won or not, that was our mentality,” explains the Lévis club player.

Thus, the Canadians began their journey by winning seven of their eight qualifying round encounters. They beat New Zealand 10-3 and then lost to Finland 5-3. They rolled up their sleeves and defeated Denmark 8-1 and South Korea in the extra game 7-6. They thus took a detour to win their duels against India , Portugal, Hong Kong and Slovenia.

Qualifying for the first round of the playoffs, the Canadian team beat the Italian team 9 points to 5. In the quarterfinals, Team Canada was able to take revenge against the Finns. In a very close match, the Canadians won 9-6 in overtime.

Then Switzerland fell 9-4 in the semi-finals in favor of the Canadians and it was the local team from Scotland who awaited the Quebec players in the grand final. Belleau, Ménard, Larouche, Lemay and their trainer Éric Sylvain defeated the Scots 7 to 4 and earned the highest honours.

“We weren’t home when we won. We celebrated the five together, we enjoyed it and savored it together before we went home. Now we’re celebrating with our loved ones, it’s really satisfying,” says Marie-France Larouche.

According to the player from Lévis, it is all the years of experience that the team has accumulated over time that has allowed it to stand out and achieve this prestigious title.

“I think our experience helped us a lot during the tournament, our strategies were really impeccable and we stayed calm throughout the competition. It was that support between us that made the difference in the end,” she concludes.