'Unforgettable moment': Lotts defend Canadian mixed doubles curling crown

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The triumph came with … er … Lotts of emotion. After their successful last shot Friday in defence of their Canadian Mixed Doubles Curling Championship, there was plenty of the fuzzy feelings for the husband-and-wife duo of Colton and Kadriana Lott.

Hugs …

Tears …

Overwhelming joy.

“It was all the feels,” said Kadriana, not long after the down-to-the-last-rock afternoon win in the national mixed doubles finale in Summerside, P.E.I.

“It’s an unforgettable moment,” continued the 25-year-old Manitoban. “To be able to do this with one another is so so special. It’s a moment to soak all in. We’re so pumped and fortunate to become back-to-back champions. It’s an unforgettable feeling.”

Just as sweet the second time around, proclaimed the couple from Gimli, Man., although this year’s celebration came after extra work was needed to claim the championship.

Unlike in their perfect run during last winter’s Canadian crowning in Fredericton, N.B., the Lotts had to shake off a loss on Prince Edward Island.

It was a timely one, too, coming in the last draw of the round robin Thursday at the hands of curling legends Jennifer Jones and Brent Laing, who — with that decision — bumped the Lotts from the ranks of the unbeaten and out of first place in their pool. That meant an extra game in their way — that one in the qualification round — to repeat again as champions.

“It sucks losing that wrong one,” Kadriana said. “Because it puts you a step further from the final game. But at the same time, it’s sometimes a good thing having that extra game. It gives you extra momentum going into each game gives you obviously extra gameplay.

“And we knew we were obviously qualified after losing that game, so it just really is just one more game you’ve got to win.”

Indeed, their only loss didn’t deter them from their appointed rounds, as they peeled off four straight playoff victories — highlighted by the 9-8 final over the Halifax tandem of Marlee Powers and Luke Saunders — as part of their 10-1 performance to cop the title again.

Respective elimination-game wins — “grinding until the end,” said Kadriana, proudly — of 10-4, 9-4 and 6-5 over Paige Papley/Evan Amsterdam, Nancy Martin/Steve Laycock and Kira Brunton/Jacob Horgan got them to the championship draw.

“We just really focused on ourselves and let our play do the talking all week,” said 29-year-old Colton. “We kind of just came into it open-minded, even though we won last year. We were just kind of bringing that same mindset that we had last year into this event. And we know we’re one of the top Canadian teams in doubles.

“But with doubles, anything can happen, right? All these teams are tough.”

Brunton and Horgan proved especially tough all week. They comprised one of only two teams to finish the round robin with a perfect 7-0 record — the other was mixed doubles specialists Laura Walker and Kirk Muyres — and remained unbeaten through playoffs into the final.

But it was three shots defining the outcome of that finale.

The first was a clutch draw for a second point in the second end, seeing Kadriana with little more than a third-of-a-rock sized piece of the button sneak an extra point on the board.

The second was an extremely thin-double take-out to pick two oppositions stones off the four-foot circle — both of which were nearly fully buried behind a corner-frozen Lotts stone — to leave a single Lotts counter around to score in the fifth end.
It was a shot so difficult that it was barely there, but the successful outcome changed the complexion of the final.

“I’m a lot more comfortable throwing those draws,” Kadriana said. “That pick? From my eyes, you couldn’t really see much down there. It was definitely a momentum swing for myself. It made me feel more confident in making my next shots.”

The third came in the extra end, where Colton managed a heavy-draw-bump around two guards to remove an enemy stone off the tee-line in the four-foot. Lott was perfect on the execution, forcing Powers to attack with her final stone, but the offering hung wide, giving the national title to the Lotts.

And the celebration was on, giving them the historic repeat victory and the right to represent Canada at the 2026 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship at a location to be named later.

They’re aiming to make the playoffs at worlds a year after missing them.

But they are savouring this one first, with the jubilation coming on the heels of a heart-wrenching Brier loss in the final for Colton, as vice-skip for Matt Dunstone, and Kadriana having mixed feelings about eliminating her Scotties skip, Martin, in this run to the championship.

“I don’t think I’ve ever played anyone that close to me in a mixed doubles game,” Kadriana said. “So yeah … it was a little bit tougher. But we both know it’s a game and whoever comes out on top is destined to be there. So it was nice to play her, but at the same time, it sucks.”

“Thinking about it just after Kadriana and I won, like the amount of low that was there a week-and-a-half ago, after losing that Brier final, to being able to win this event with my wife, it totally takes the heartbreak away,” added Colton.

“It’s a phenomenal feeling.”

tsaelhof@postmedia.com

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