Fresh from claiming gold for GB Students in the first ever mixed doubles curling event held at the World University Games (WUGS), south west duo Orrin Carson and Robyn Munro will now represent Scotland on the global stage after winning the Scottish Junior Mixed Doubles Championships on their home ice at Dumfries Ice Bowl.
It was a third success in the event for Stranraer’s Munro in what is her final year as a junior, however it was her first with Dumfries teenager Carson and the 21-year-old admitted that the extra prize on offer had heightened the sense of achievement. 
“This one is particularly special as it is the first time winning it means you get to go to a World Junior Mixed Doubles Champs and I am very excited to have that honour and to get to wear Scotland colours again,” said Munro, who was part of Fay Henderson’s World Junior Championship winning team in 2023.
“When it was announced that the winner would be going to the Worlds it was something that we definitely were both really up for and I am really proud to have won this for a third and last time and it is extra special to get to compete on the world stage for Scotland in this event for the first time ever.
“Winning WUGS meant Orrin and I could take a lot of confidence into this last weekend and our experience shone through.
“Three game days are not easy, but we have also battled through that on the world stage so I think we are really happy with that and we are now excited to get back on that world stage and show what we can do in Canada.”
With Carson similarly having demonstrated prodigious talent, already having led his all-teenage men’s team to three successive Scottish Junior Championship titles, the pair struck up an immediate rapport when they won the Matt Murdoch Memorial Junior Mixed Doubles event after being partnered with one another for the first time this season ahead of WUGS.
“We had a lot of great experience together in the lead up to WUGS, playing in the Matt Murdoch Memorial Mixed Doubles and the final of the Scottish was actually a repeat of that one.
“Winning that and taking that confidence and knowing each other and heading into WUGS was invaluable really.
“Our experience shone through at WUGS and we had a great week there representing Great Britain and we were really proud of bringing home a gold medal in the first ever Mixed Doubles.
“I think it is testament to our team dynamic and how well we work together, so given all that success we just really want to give it the best shot that we could at trying to get to this first ever World Junior Mixed Doubles.
“I am proud of everything we have achieved so far and looking forward to what comes next.
“We both obviously have big ambitions in the team game and it has just been a case of trying to slot mixed doubles in where possible.” 
Currently in her final year of under graduate studies, Munro has had a hectic schedule to deal with in the early part of 2025, her first playing in the senior women’s game having rejoined Team Henderson, who claimed the Scottish Women’s Championship title for a second successive year.
“January was a crazy month for me with Perth Masters, WUGS and then Bern but we managed to keep that success going to win the Scottish Champs women’s title,” she said.
“It was a dream come true and that marked the end of the season with my team really.
“We didn’t have any other events this season, so I was able to just get my head back to mixed doubles and to Uni as I am in my final year of studying International Politics and International Relations.
“I have a dissertation deadline looming and some exams next week to navigate, so since the Scottish Champs and throughout the whole year really I have had to identify hot spots when there needs to be more focus on Uni and when there needs to be a bit more on curling.
“I am really glad that that has all paid off and winning that World University Games title was a really poignant moment for me where my sport and academic success could come together and as I look to life post graduation I am excited for what’s next in both aspects of my life.”
She noted, too, that this is an era of increased opportunity for all young curlers with the rapid rise in status of mixed doubles since its introduction to the Olympics in 2018.
“Mixed doubles is such an exciting discipline and I feel very lucky to be playing at a time when the first ever World University Games Mixed Doubles and also the inaugural World Junior Mixed Doubles Champs are taking place and to have this chance to play in these first ever events,” said Munro.
“Having featured at the Olympics twice now, mixed doubles is on the radar of all young curlers coming up and I think it was probably different with previous generations, but the fact that there were 40 teams and 80 players at the Scottish Junior Mixed Doubles last weekend is testament to the excitement that young people have about this discipline.
“It says a lot about the growth of mixed doubles and I am really proud that we got through such a strong and vast field to come out on top.”
The World Junior Mixed Doubles Championship takes place in Edmonton from May 6-11.
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WUGS Images: Jack Hodgetts
