Subasthika Thangadurai and Ky Macaulay have won the U21 Alberta Mixed Doubles championship against the largest field ever to compete.

Curling out of the Cochrane Curling Club, they were untouchable among the 34 mixed doubles teams in a triple knockout event at the Thistle Curling Club in Edmonton.

The pair have been curling in mixed doubles together for just over three years and have also won the Cochrane Curling Club mixed doubles league the last three years.

"We joined the league three years ago, and we've just been doing well there, and getting that game time and experience has been pretty awesome," says Thangadurai.

Now 20, it's her last year of eligibility in U21 and that makes this victory especially sweet.

"Last year, we were quarterfinalists in the same event, so we were just hoping to top the performance from last year and did that, and definitely exceeded our expectations."

The team received a huge confidence builder going into the provincials after winning a major event in Sherwood Park just a few weeks previous.

Coach Gord Copithorne believes that win helped to build their momentum.

He says when they went to provincials last year, they were a strong team but stumbled. Not this time.

"So they're on this kind of high and have this confidence and belief in themselves, and you could see it all the way along."

One moment stands out to him when they had a few ends left in the final.

"We have a lead but it's not a big lead and Ky turns to me, because we were looking at a hard shot, saying, 'Don't worry, I've got this one. I'm still chilling.' That's a really unique thing for an 18-year-old to say, because it's basically saying I have confidence and belief in myself and my nerves are not getting in my way."

Macaulay says they didn't allow themselves to get overconfident.

"We didn't go in there thinking we were going to come out with gold but we had the right mindset, the right attitude, and we went in there and did what we had to do to come out on top."

The best part of the final was having a rematch against close friends Myla Plett and Evan Crough, whom they met in the Sherwood Park final.

"It was nice to see our friends in the final and going in there knowing that we beat them in a final before, and knowing they are two good curlers who could make any shot, too. Going in with the confidence knowing we could do it definitely helped."

The field included other well-known Cochrane curlers, including Jessica Wrtrychowski and Zoe Cinnamon, whom they both have connections with.  Thangadurai is lead on Wrtryschowski's women's team, and Ky Macaulay use to curl mixed doubles with Cinnamon before she join the University of Alberta curling program.

As it turned out, they met Cinnamon in the semifinals at provincials.

"It was good to see them in the semifinal and it was a nice little battle for Cochrane because Zoe and I were teammates and it was fun to come against her. I like that we came out on top, but they gave us a good run for it."

Macaulay, 18, has three years left of U21 mixed doubles and will be seeking a new partner, but it's likely he'll continue to curl with Thangadurai in adult mixed doubles. They've already been curling at the adult level and have played in two provincial championships.

Thangadurai was introduced to curling in grade 5 and has been passionate about the sport since. She's the first in her family to take up the sport.

"Ever since I started, my whole family loves it a lot. We're always watching it on TV, and my dad loves coming up to watch me. I'm definitely the first one in my family to play, but my little brother is starting to learn, which I'm really excited about, I'm hoping to see him play competitively in a couple of years."

Macaulay plays in four different U21 and adult leagues. Among his past accomplishments was skipping the Cochrane High mixed team to a provincial championship. It was the school's first mixed provincial curling banner.

There is no national event for this relatively new version of curling. Rest assured, as its popularity continues to grow, that's likely to change.