Curling Canada, the sport's sanctioning body within the country, announced on Thursday that all remaining championships on the 2019-20 schedule have been canceled.
As a result, the national mixed doubles, senior, under-18 and wheelchair championships will no longer take place. The move comes amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic that has wreaked havoc on the sporting world, with nearly every major event planned for the Spring affected in one way or another.
The mixed doubles and senior events were originally set to happen in March, while the under-18 and wheelchair championships were scheduled for April. All four events had been postponed indefinitely last month.
The 2020 Canad Inns Canadian Mixed Doubles, the 2020 Everest Canadian Seniors, the 2020 Canadian Under-18 and the 2020 Canadian Wheelchair championships will not be contested due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
— Curling Canada (@CurlingCanada) April 9, 2020
Details ➡️ https://t.co/cqZZ622AJR pic.twitter.com/r3NQtVG1f5
Earlier on Thursday, the World Curling Federation announced that the previously postponed men's, women's, seniors' and mixed doubles World Championships would not be rescheduled. The decision complicates the qualification processes for both next year's World Championships and the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
“This has been one of the hardest decisions we’ve had to make in the history of our sport — to completely cancel four world championships in a single season — particularly when Olympic qualification is at stake," the federation's president Kate Caithness said in a statement. “I am extremely grateful to all those who have helped us come to this unprecedented decision and kindly ask for the entire curling community’s understanding, as I recognize the implications of such a decision are disheartening."
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Caithness is hopeful the cancellations will help the 2020-21 season start on time later this year.
“I fervently hope that we will see an end to the spread of this dreadful virus in the very near future and life can return to some normality," she said. "Please stay safe and well, and let’s look forward to us getting back to curling soon and delivering a complete 2020-2021 season.”
