IQALUIT, Nunavut, November 9, 2008 (CCA)… Manitoba has moved into a three-way tie with idle British Columbia and Saskatchewan, all with 2-0 records, after three draws of the Canadian Mixed Curling Championship.
Sunday afternoon at the Arniatok Arena, Manitoba (Sean Grassie of Winnipeg) won its second straight, a hard-fought 7-5 decision of Nova Scotia (Mark Dacey of Halifax), taking a deuce in the 10th end for the win. The victory allowed Manitoba to join undefeated British Columbia (Greg Monkman of New Westminster) and Saskatchewan (Darrell McKee of Saskatoon) atop the leaderboard.
In other games, New Brunswick (Scott Jones of Moncton) won its first contest, 9-4 over winless Alberta (Tom Appelman of Edmonton); Quebec (Simon Hebert of Thetford Mines) evened its record at 1-1 with an 11-3 walloping of the Territories (George Lennie of Inuvik) and, in a provincial battle, Ontario (Wayne Tuck of Brantford) defeated Northern Ontario (Ian Fisher of Sault Ste. Marie), 8-5.
Behind the three leaders are New Brunswick at 1-0, followed by Northern Ontario, Nova Scotia, Ontario and Quebec, all at 1-1. Four teams are still winless early in the competition…. Newfoundland and Labrador at 0-1, with Territories, Prince Edward Island and Alberta at 0-2. PEI’s Bill Hope rink lost their opener on Saturday 9-6 to Northern Ontario, and dropped a 10-5 decision to Saskatchewan on Sunday morning.
Draw 4 got underway at 8 pm Atlantic, with British Columbia meeting Saskatchewan in the marquee matchup. The teams play a round robin, which concludes on Friday, after which the first place team advances directly to the final on Saturday, November 15, while the second and third place teams meet in a semi-final to determine the other finalist.
Alberta has won a leading nine Mixed titles since the championship began in 1964 in Toronto, including last season, when Dean Ross of Calgary defeated Ontario’s Bob Turcotte in the final.
In addition to a Canadian title, two players from the winning team will also represent Canada at the 2009 World Mixed Doubles Championship, slated for April 17-25, 2009 in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.
This is the first time in history that a Canadian sport championship has been held in Iqaluit, located in the territory of Nunavut, about 2,000 kilometres north of Ottawa.
The Rodd Curling Classic wrapped up this afternoon at the Charlottetown Curling Club, with the Robyn MacPhee rink from the host club winning the women’s section, and Brian Rafuse of Bridgewater NS capturing the men’s division.
In the women’s final, MacPhee, playing with her sister Rebecca Jean at third, along with Shelley Muzika at second, and Tammi Lowther in the lead position, beat Mary Jane McGuire of Fredericton 5-3, scoring a double in the third end to grab a one-point lead, and stealing a single in the final end to seal the win. Playing with McGuire are Megan McGuire, Sarah Berthelot, and Jocelyn Adams.
Rafuse and his team of Curt Palmer, Alan Darragh, and Dave Slauenwhite, trailed 4-3 in the men’s final to Marc LeCocq of Moncton after the New Brunswick skip stole a double in the seventh, but tied it up in the eighth to force an extra end, where he stole a pair for the 6-4 win. Playing with LeCocq were Jim Sullivan, Jason Roach, and Andy McCann.
In semi-final play, MacPhee’s team was impressive against another former Canadian Junior champ, Andrea Kelly of New Brunswick, taking four points in the second end, and stealing another four-ender in the seventh to win 10-3. Kelly’s rink, coached by former Islander Daryell Nowlan, includes his wife Denise at third, along with Jodie de Solla, and Lianne Sobey, and 5th Melissa Adams. McGuire held Kim Dolan of Charlottetown to a single point, to record a 7-1 semi-final win. Dolan is playing with Kathy O’Rourke, Nancy Cameron, and Trish Affleck this season.
In the men’s semis, LeCocq doubled Charlottetown’s John Likely rink 6-3, while Rafuse beat Brent MacDougall of Nova Scotia, also by a 6-3 score. Other members of the Likely rink are Phil Gorveatt, Mark Butler, Mike Dillon and 5th Robert Campbell. Kevin Lonergan, Chris Emeneau and Jeremiah Anderson round out the MacDougall foursome.
By virtue of their round robin standings, Likely and Rafuse advanced directly to the noon semi-finals In the 18 team men’s division. Likely finished round robin play with a 5-1 win-loss record, losing only his opener, to PEI’s Mike Gaudet rink. Rafuse also went 5-1, losing to PEI’s Jamie Newson rink in the last round robin draw.
In the 9 am men’s quarter-finals, LeCocq beat Mark Kehoe of Windsor NS 7-3, while MacDougall defeated fellow Bluenoser Chris Sutherland 8-6.
In round robin play, MacPhee finished with a 4-1 win-loss record. Her only loss was to Jill Mouzar of Halifax. Kelly also had only one loss, 6-5 in an extra end to defending champion Suzanne Birt. This was Birt’s only win in the event. Dolan also went 4-1, dropping her opener to MacPhee. McGuire’s record was 3-2, after losses to Kelly and Nancy McConnery of Halifax.
The Rafuse rink takes home $4500, with the MacPhee team pocketing $3500. Runners-up LeCocq and McGuire will will get $3300 and $2100 respectively. Semi-finalists Likely and MacDougall will receive $2200, while Dolan and Kelly each pocket $1600. The other men’s quarter-finalists Kehoe and Sutherland each receive $1400. There is also a $60 payment per round robin win in the women’s section.
Only one Island rink remains in contention at the annual Oak Island Junior Cashspiel in Chester Nova Scotia.
Brett Gallant and his team of Adam Casey, Anson Carmody, and Jamie Danbrook, with coach Peter Gallant went through the round robin undefeated in the 15 team junior men’s section, and have advanced directly to the noon semi-finals. Kendall Thompson from Nova Scotia also received the bye to the semis The Paul Dexter rink of Antigonish, with PEI’s Alex MacFadyen at second, were also undefeated, but are competing in the quarter-finals, which got underway at 8 this morning. They are playing Chris MacRae of Halifax , while Scott Henderson of St. John’s NL meets Scott Babin of Fredericton in the other game. Sam Ramsay of Summerside did not manage to pick up a win in the round robin, while his former teammate Neil Gallant, skipping a Truro team, finished with one win against three losses. Defending champion Glen Muirhead of Scotland ended play at 2-2.
In the ten team junior women’s section, neither Erin Carmody nor Sarah Fullerton of PEI made it to the money round, with Carmody finishing round robin play at 2-2, while Fullerton had one win and three losses. Two-time defending champion Ashley Howard of Moncton and Haligonian Danielle Parsons were undefeated in the round robin. Howard plays Marlee Powers of Bridgewater, while Nova Scotia junior women’s champion Parsons meets Marie Christianson of CFB Halifax in the noon semi-finals. Powers and Christianson both had one round robin loss.
The finals go at 4 pm in both divisions.
Many of the teams from this event will be on PEI for one or both of the next two weekends, with the Fall Fling Junior Cashspiel taking place at the Silver Fox from Nov. 14-16, and the Pizza Delight/Subway/Howard Johnson Dutch Inn Junior Cashspiel being held at the Cornwall Curling Club from Nov. 21-23.
Round robin play wrapped up Saturday night at the Charlottetown Curling Club’s annual Rodd Classic cashspiel.
Charlottetown’s John Likely, and Brian Rafuse of Bridgewater NS advanced directly to the noon semi-finals In the 18 team men’s division. Likely finished round robin play with a 5-1 win-loss record, losing only his opener, to PEI’s Mike Gaudet rink. Rafuse also went 5-1, losing to PEI’s Jamie Newson rink in the last round robin draw. Other members of the Likely rink are Phil Gorveatt, Mark Butler, Mike Dillon and 5th Robert Campbell, while Chris Palmer, Alan Darragh and Dave Slauenwhite round out the Rafuse foursome.
Likely and Rafuse await the winners of 9 am qualifiers between Mark Kehoe from Windsor NS and Marc LeCocq from Moncton, and between Nova Scotians Chris Sutherland and Brent MacDougall.
The noon semi-finals are set in the twelve team women’s section, with Charlottetown’s Kim Dolan playing Mary Jane McGuire of Fredericton NB, and PEI’s Robyn MacPhee facing another former Canadian Junior champion, Andrea Kelly of New Brunswick.
Kim Dolan is playing with Kathy O’Rourke, Nancy Cameron, and Trish Affleck this season, with Megan McGuire, Sarah Berthelot and Jocelyn Adams completing the McGuire foursome. MacPhee’s rink includes her sister Rebecca Jean at third, and Shelly Muzika and Tammi Lowther on the front end. Kelly’s rink, coached by former Islander Daryell Nowlan, includes his wife Denise at third, along with Jodie de Solla, and Lianne Sobey, and 5th Melissa Adams. Kelly had only one round-robin loss, 6-5 in an extra end to defending champion Suzanne Birt. This was Birt’s only win in the event. Dolan also went 4-1, dropping her opener to MacPhee, who also went 4-1, losing only to Jill Mouzar of Halifax. McGuire’s record was 3-2, after losses to Kelly and Nancy McConnery of Halifax.
The finals go at 3 this afternoon, with the men’s winner taking home $4500, and the championship women’s rink pocketing $3500. Runners-up will get $3300 and $2100 respectively. The losers of the semi-finals will receive $2200 (men) and $1600 (women), while the losers of the men’s quarter-final round receive $1400. There is also a $60 payment per round robin win in the women’s section.
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