CurlingZone: Skrlik Finding Form As Playdown Season Nears

An early-season slump well behind them, Kayla Skrlik's Calgary-based team is rising up the rankings and appears primed to peak at the right time. (Photo: Andrew Klaver, Curling Canada)

A 3-1 preliminary-round record at the Nutrien Ag Solutions Western Showdown on the heels of an undefeated run to the title at the Curling Stadium Alberta Curling Series No. 3 event has the team brimming with confidence.

"We did a lot of sports psych work and a lot of work with our coaches to get our technical back together and cohesive," Skrlik said. "The fact that we're all throwing the same is just amazing and it seems to be working out great for us."

Skrlik posted wins this week over American Tabitha Peterson, Switzerland's Michele Jaeggi and Saskatchewan's Robyn Silvernagle earlier in the week at the Swift Current Curling Club. Her lone preliminary-round defeat was to Japan's Satsuki Fujisawa.

"Specifically in Swift Current, our communication has been really, really good," Skrlik told CurlingZone. "With the last bonspiel of 2023, it's nice, it's a calm place to be. When you've played so many events, it's familiar. It's been comfortable out here for sure."

Skrlik, 26, enjoyed a breakout year last season thanks to a highlight-reel game-winning throw in the final of the Alberta playdowns. That booked her first appearance at the Canadian women's championship.

"It was a huge confidence booster to our team," she said. "It was that turning point where we realized that maybe we could do it."

Skrlik, who plays with third Brittany Tran, second Geri-Lynn Ramsay and sister Ashton Skrlik at lead, said she feels the squad can hang with the world's top teams. They are proving it with strong performances in fields like the Western Showdown, which boasts six of the top 10 women's teams in the world.

"It's a tough field to say the least ... so it's enjoyable," she said. "I enjoy it. We played a couple easier events where the strength of field (was lower). So it's nice to come back and play events where the top teams in the world are playing and do well."

The team also has the Jan. 24-28 Alberta playdowns circled on its calendar. Skrlik, at No. 12, is one of five Alberta-based teams in the national top 20 with No. 5 Selena Sturmay, No. 9 Selena Gray-Withers, No. 13 Jessie Hunkin and No. 17 Abby Marks.

"There's more pressure than last year when we were the underdogs of the provincial Scotties," Skrlik said. "This year we're expected to do well. It's just a different mindset completely going into this one."

Skrlik finished 4-4 in her Scotties Tournament of Hearts debut. She also skipped Alberta to a 7-3 mark at the national under-21 playdowns in 2018.

In 2014, she won gold for Northern Alberta at the Arctic Winter Games in Fairbanks, Alaska.

"We stayed with volleyball players in a school on cots," she said. "It was just insane. We went undefeated, which was very helpful to help the mood for sure. But honestly if I were to reflect back on any curling experience, that would definitely take my top three.

"That really gave us motivation to keep going in the sport. We're from northern Alberta, Ashton and I, so curling took a lot of effort. We were making 11-hour drives to Lethbridge for provincials some years. To have success early was just nice and a big confidence booster."

Play resumes early Sunday at the Western Showdown. The semifinals and finals for both women's and men's events are scheduled for Sunday afternoon.

Skrlik finished 3-1 in the 25-team round-robin pool qualifying round. In their opening game, Skrlik lost 7-4 to Japan's Satsuki Fujisawa, then responded with a 8-3 win over Michele Jaeggi (Bern, SUI). Skrlik won 6-3 against Robyn Silvernagle (North Battleford, SK) and finishing round-robin play with a 9-5 win against Tabitha Peterson (St. Paul, MN).

In the quarterfinals, Skrlik faces Winnipeg's Jolene Campbell, who also went 3-1 on the weekend.

In the quarterfinals, Corrie Huerlimann (Zug, SUI) faces Eunjung Kim (Gangneung, KOR), while Isabella Wrana (Sundbyberg, SWE) plays Silvana Tirinzoni (Aarau, SUI) 0-0 and Eun ji Gim (Uijeongbu, KOR) plays Fujisawa.

All games are live-streamed with links and replays available on the www.curlingzone.com website.

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