There was a little bit of everything for Saskatchewan’s Nancy Martin and Rylan Kleiter on their opening day of play at the 2026 Canadian Mixed Doubles Curling Championship: adversity, adjustments, and a reminder of how quickly momentum can swing in the five-rock game.
Representing the Martensville Curling Club, Martin and Kleiter split their first two games Sunday in Surrey, B.C., finishing the day with a 1-1 record in a deep 28-team field at the Cloverdale Curling Club.
With a trip to the 2027 World Mixed Doubles Championship, the Saskatchewan duo saw both ends of the spectrum in their opening draws.
Their morning game against Ontario’s Katie Ford and Oliver Campbell got away early.
The Ontario side came out sharp, stealing one in the first end and adding two more in the second to seize early control. Martin and Kleiter were limited to a single point in the third and then surrendered a deuce in the fourth, heading into the break trailing 5-1.
But when it looked like the game might slip away, Saskatchewan responded with their best end of the day.
Using the power play in the fifth, Martin and Kleiter capitalized in a big way, scoring four to pull even at 5-5 and completely flip the momentum.
It wouldn’t last.
Ontario answered with a single in the sixth and then took full control late, stealing in both the seventh and eighth ends to secure an 8-5 win, handing Saskatchewan an opening-game loss.
If there was frustration from the morning, it didn’t carry into the evening draw.
Facing Reese Wainman and Nick Saturnino of the Northwest Territories, Martin and Kleiter wasted no time asserting themselves.
With hammer in the first end, Saskatchewan put up a five-ender, a statement start that immediately put their opponents on their heels.
From there, it was all Saskatchewan.
After conceding a single in the second, Martin and Kleiter answered with a deuce in the third to extend the lead to 7-1, then effectively put the game away before the break. Taking advantage of aggressive play from their opponents, the Saskatchewan pair stole two more in the fourth for a commanding 9-1 edge.
They kept their foot on the gas in the second half, adding steals of two in the fifth and one more in the sixth before handshakes were exchanged in a 12-1 rout.
The split leaves Martin and Kleiter at 1-1 heading into a busy Monday, with two more round-robin games on deck against Niagara Falls’ Serena Gray-Withers and Victor Pietrangelo, followed by Halifax’s Nick Mosher and Maria Christianson.
In a format where only the four pool winners earn a direct bye to the quarterfinals, and the next eight teams must survive a qualification round.
Day 1 showed both the challenge and the ceiling for Saskatchewan.
Now comes the push for consistency.
