The Ontario Mixed Doubles Tour Championship gets underway at the Wingham Golf and Curling Club on Friday, February 21, headlined by a local team.
Shawn and Katie Cottrill have had an excellent season, reaching the number one rank in Canada. Katie said they're pumped about having home-ice advantage and that it can come into play in their favour.
"It absolutely does. Not only the ice conditions that we will be familiar with, but also the rocks and things like that so we will kind of know what to expect. I mean, every club you go to is a little bit different," she said.
Teams from the U.S., Hungary, China and Canada will be competing, and Katie said their familiar with other Ontario teams and some international opponents, but Hungary could be a particularly tough test.
"The team that's coming from Hungary has actually won the world championships twice, so we're expecting them to be a really strong team, we've never played them before. Also, the former Canadian champions, the Tucks are coming," she said.
After reaching the number one rank in Canada this season, Katie said they're hoping to gain momentum from this event into another huge one coming up.
"So we have this tournament which is going to be really great competition, and then the following weekend is our provincial championships, where we are trying to defend our title. So, it'll be a really good warm up for that."
Play gets underway Friday, February 21 in the evening for the round-robin which stretches into Saturday, February 22 with playoffs on Sunday, February 23. The Cottrills begin play at 7 p.m. on Friday, and then at 10:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Saturday, February 22. Admission is free, and there is a dinner on Saturday night for $18 featuring live music, with tickets available at the Wingham Golf and Curling Club.