Two of Team GB’s gold medal winning women’s team from the Beijing Winter Olympics will face one another in the semi-finals of the Stirling Mixed Doubles Invitational after Hailey Duff and partner Ross Whyte earned the right to meet Jen Dodds and Bruce Mouat with victories over the world’s number one ranked team and a former mixed doubles World Champion.
For Dodds and Mouat, already selected to play mixed doubles together at next year’s Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina after reaching the final of every international event they contested last season, it has been a familiar story as they powered through the round-robin stages unbeaten.
However, the way that Duff and Whyte have worked together on re-establishing their former partnership has also been impressive with their victory over Estonia’s world number one ranked Marie Kaldvee and Harri Lill, followed by the defeat of 2022 mixed doubles World Champion Bobby Lammie and Rebecca Morrison, their British Curling colleagues. 
“It’s been great,” said Duff.
“Ross and I have played together in the past, but that was quite a few years ago, so we’re really a new pairing this season and we’ve only played two games together before this event.
“I wasn’t sure how we were going to go starting new again, but we’ve started really well and our communication’s been good.
“We’ve got a few things still to work on, but it’s going really well and these results just make you feel a little bit more confident that we might be doing the right things out there and we might have a chance of representing Scotland or GB at some point.”
Their performance is the latest demonstration of growing strength in depth within the British Curling squad in the newest of the Olympic disciplines and Duff clearly recognises that she and Whyte are creating an additional opportunity for themselves.
“To actually make it into the play-offs when there are obviously some really strong contenders, some Olympians that will be in Milan next year, it’s a great achievement,” she said.
“We’ll be playing Jen and Bruce in the semi-final, so that will obviously be a tough game, but we’re looking forward to that. 
“We’ll try our best and it should be a really good game, but either way we’ve done really well to manage to make it to the semi-finals.
“I think mixed doubles is a great opportunity.
“There’s a place up for grabs for the World Championships next year with the Olympic team not being able to go, so that’s quite a big opportunity.
“There are other good pairings for that, but I think going forward it is a discipline at the Olympics, so it’s another chance to get another medal and that’s not something to take lightly.”
The other semi-final will feature the USA’s former World Champions Cory Thiesse and Korey Dropkin and Australia’s world number two ranked Tahli Gill and Dean Hewitt.
The semi final (8.30am) and final (12 midday) of the Stirling Mixed Doubles Invitational at the National Curling Academy (August 25-27) will be live streamed on the Curling Stadium Europe platform.
Event passes can be obtained here
Results on Curling Zone
British Curling teams:
Team Dodds/Mouat
Jen Dodds
Bruce Mouat
Team Henderson/Hardie
Fay Henderson
Grant Hardie
Team Duff/Whyte
Hailey Duff
Ross Whyte
Team Jackson/CWaddell
Sophie Jackson
Craig Waddell
Team Watt/Waddell
Laura Watt
Kyle Waddell
Team Morrison/Lammie
Rebecca Morrison
Bobby Lammie
