Rylan Kleiter and Brittany Tran have advanced to the 3-4 Page playoff game at the Canadian mixed doubles Olympic curling trials after defeating Jennifer Jones and Brent Laing in an extra end 8-6 in their qualifying game on Friday afternoon.
Tran-Kleiter started slowly, giving up stolen points in the first two ends against Jones-Laing, but put together a solid third end that was capped by Tran making a draw to bite the button for three points.
“That’s a momentum-swinging shot,” Kleiter said after the game. “Right to the tee line, get a piece of the button — it was a great shot.”
Tran-Kleiter now face Rachel Homan and Brendan Bottcher in the Page 3-4 game. The winner advances to Saturday morning’s semi-final, and the loser heads home.
This will be the second meeting between the teams this week. Tran-Kleiter were the lone entry to beat Homan-Bottcher in round-robin play, winning 7-6 on Wednesday. What will it take to beat them again?
“I think the same stuff that we’ve been doing all week,” Tran said. “Getting those right angles, getting a good handle on the draw weight, and having the good communication that we’ve had if the ice changes at all.”
