The Sobeys Slam gets underway Thursday and wraps up Sunday at the Bluenose Curling Club and the John Brother MacDonald Stadium in New Glasgow NS. Charlottetown’s Suzanne Birt rink, which includes third Shelly Bradley, second Leslie MacDougall, and lead Stefanie Clark, along with Cornwall’s Donna Butler foursome, with Marie Molyneaux at third, Melissa Andrews at second, and Carolyn Coulson at lead, are PEI’s entrants. Other entries in this star-studded event include Jennifer Jones, Shannon Kleibrink, Kelly Scott, Stefanie Lawton, Sherry Middaugh, Cheryl Bernard, Cathy King, Mary Anne Arsenault, two US teams, and the silver medallists in last year’s World championship, Team China (Bingyu Wang).
Birt will play Amber Holland of Regina in the opening draw, Thursday at 8:30 am.
The Butler rink, who qualified as a result of their 3-2 finish at the Rodd Curling Classic in Charlottetown, will open against top-ranked Shannon Kleibrink of Calgary Thursday at noon.
Asked about the opportunity to play in the Slam and to face Kleibrink, Butler had this to say, “As a team, we are so pleased the host committee has allowed for two spots to be filled with Atlantic Canada teams through a qualifying process and we are very excited about the opportunity to play in the Sobeys Slam. It is such a great opportunity to play the best teams from across Canada. Playing Kleibrink in our first game does put pressure on us but it is great. I am a little nervous but once the game gets going, we’ll settle in and just play”.
The Sobeys Slam is the only women’s World Curling Tour Grand Slam event in Eastern Canada. Featuring the best women’s curling teams in the world, the Canadian teams will be competing for Canadian Team Ranking system (CTRS) points, enabling them to qualify for the 2009 Olympic Trials. It is not all about points however – with $60,000 up for grabs, the Sobeys Slam is one of the richest women’s cash spiels in the world.
A full schedule of events can be found at www.sobeysslam.ca.
Tickets can be purchased at the website, or at any Sobeys store in Atlantic Canada.
Eighteen teams are set to compete in the annual Silver Fox Cashspiel, sponsored by Labatt, Superstore, Quality Inn and the Journal Pioneer, which gets underway Friday afternoon at the Silver Fox Curling and Yacht Club in Summerside. Defending champion and event organizer Rod MacDonald is in the event this year, playing on the Kevin Champion rink. Other contenders include Mike Gaudet, runner-up in the Moncton Hub City Shootout the previous weekend, three-time PEI Junior champ Brett Gallant, PEI Mixed champ Bill Hope, and former Labatt Tankard men’s champions Ted MacFadyen and John Likely. Two women’s rinks, skipped by Karen Currie of Cornwall, and Kim Dolan of Charlottetown, are among the entries.
Top prize is $2000, with $1600 for the runner-up, $1200 for third and fourth place, and $800 for fifth and sixth.
Opening draws are at 1, 2 and 3:30 pm Friday, with three games in each draw time. Quarter-finals go Sunday at 9 am, with the semis at noon, and the final at 3 pm.
Results will be available at PEICurling.com and the Silver Fox website.
PEI’s Suzanne Birt rink, which includes third Shelly Bradley, second Leslie MacDougall and lead Stefanie Clark, have advanced to the quarter-final round at the $97,000 Sun Life Financial Invitational Curling Classic in Brantford Ont.. This afternoon they edged the Kathy Brown foursome from Guelph Ont. by a 4-3 score, and are now playing Eve Bélisle of Montreal in the quarter-final round, which got underway at 7:30 pm Eastern.
The other quarter-final matchups have Erika Brown of Madison Wisconsin playing Karen Bell of Stoney Creek, Bingyu Wang of China vs Marie-France LaRouche of Quebec, and Jacqueline Harrison of Ottawa playing Heather Strong of St. John’s.
On the men’s side, defending champion Glenn Howard is playing Darryl Prebble of Toronto, Mike McEwen of Winnipeg is taking on Andreas Schwaller of Switzerland, Brad Jacobs of Sault Ste. Marie is playing Brad Gushue of St. John’s, and Jean-Michel Ménard of Quebec is facing Wayne Middaugh of Toronto.
The semi-finals go Monday morning at 9, with the finals at 12:30 pm Eastern.
A two-hour storm delay on Saturday caused scheduling problems for some of the teams at the annual Pizza Delight/Subway/Howard Johnson Dutch Inn Junior Cashspiel at the Cornwall Curling Club, causing the forfeiture of the junior women’s final and consolation final, which took place later on Sunday afternoon than originally scheduled. The reigning Nova Scotia junior champions, the Marie Christianson rink from Halifax, won the championship round by default over former New Brunswick champion Mary Jane McGuire of Fredericton, while Cornwall’s Sarah Fullerton rink took the consolation round, beating defending champion Erin Carmody, who curls out of Charlottetown, also by default.
In the junior men’s final, Chris MacRae defeated Halifax Mayflower clubmate Kendal Thompson 8-6, while PEI’s Sam Ramsay beat defending champion Brett Gallant of Charlottetown 8-6 in the consolation match.
In the junior women’s semi-finals, McGuire edged Carmody 5-4, and Christianson got by Sarah Fullerton by a 6-5 score. The junior men’s semis were also very close, with MacRae edging Gallant 7-6, and Thompson beating Ramsay 5-3.
Other members of the winning Marie Christianson team are Tania Hilliard, Jane Snyder, and Kaitlin Fralic, while Megan McGuire, Sarah Berthelot and Jocelyn Adams round out the runner-up McGuire rink.
Playing with consolation winner Sarah Fullerton were Michelle McQuaid, Whitney Young and Sara MacRae, while Geri-Lynn Ramsay, Darcy Birch and Jessica VanOuwerkerk round out the consolation runner-up Carmody foursome.
Travis Stone, Chris Baltzer, and Ben Mayhew complete the winning Chris MacRae rink, while runner-up Kendall Thompson’s teammates are Adam Berry, Mitch Cahill, Stuart Thomson and 5th Matt Dumaresque.
Completing the consolation-winning Sam Ramsay team are Justin Richard, Eric Pidgeon, and Corey Miller, while Adam Casey, Anson Carmody, and Jamie Danbrook are the other members of the Brett Gallant rink, runners-up in the consolation round.
Ten junior men’s teams and an equal number of junior women’s rinks took part in this annual event.
Olympic and two-time world champion Russ Howard defeated PEI’s Mike Gaudet rink in this afternoon’s final of the Hub City Shootout at Moncton’s Beaver Curling Club. Scores were not available. Other members of Team Howard are James Grattan, Jason Vaughan, Peter Case, and 5th player Steve Howard. Playing with Gaudet are Eddie MacKenzie, Tyler Harris, and Sean Clarey.
Photo: Team Howard
In semi-final play, Gaudet beat Jamie Brannen of Fredericton NB, while Howard defeated PEI’s Bill Hope foursome, which includes Dennis Watts, Jeff Gallant, and Phillip McInnis.
In Saturday night’s quarter-final round, Gaudet knocked off former Canadian men’s and mixed champ Mark Dacey of Halifax, while Brannen beat Mark Kehoe of Windsor. Howard eliminated Rick Perron of the host club, while Hope beat Stephen Burgess of Fredericton. PEI’s Robbie Doherty plays on the Burgess rink.
The winning Russ Howard rink will take home $3400, with $2000 going to the runner-up Gaudet foursome and $1350 going to the Bill Hope and Jamie Brannen teams. Kehoe, Perron, Burgess, and Dacey each go home with $950 for making it to the quarter-final round.
Defending champion John Likely of Charlottetown eliminated clubmate Kevin Champion Saturday at noon in this triple-knockout competition, but lost to Howard in the 4 pm draw. 16 teams took part in this annual cashspiel.
The semi-final round is underway at the annual Pizza Delight/Subway/Howard Johnston Dutch Inn Junior Cashspiel at the Cornwall Curling Club. Defending champions Erin Carmody and Brett Gallant have both advanced to the money round. Carmody is playing Mary Jane McGuire of New Brunswick, while Gallant faces Chris MacRae of Halifax. In the other semis, Sarah Fullerton from the host club plays Marie Christianson of Halifax, and Kevin Thompson of Halifax meets PEi’s Sam Ramsay rink.
The finals in both the junior men’s and junior women’s sections go at 4 pm.
At the Sun Life Financial Invitational Curling Classic in Brantford Ont., PEI’s Suzanne Birt rink won their game against Aileen Sormunen of Duluth Minnesota this morning, and now play Kathy Brown of Guelph Ont. in a 3:30 pm Eastern qualifier game, with the winner advancing to the 7 pm quarter-final round, and the loser eliminated from further play.
The semis go Monday at 9 am, with the finals following at 12:30 pm. Wayne Middaugh, and defending champion Glenn Howard have already advanced to the quarters on the men’s side, while Erika Brown of Wisconsin and Heather Strong of St. John’s have qualified in the women’s section.
Suzanne Birt is still alive in the C division of the Sun Life Financial Invitational Curling Classic in Brantford, billed as ”the premier cash spiel in Ontario”. The PEI rink plays Aileen Sormunen of Duluth Minnesota at 9 Eastern this morning, with the loser eliminated, and the winner advancing to a 3:30 pm Eastern qualifier game. The quarter-final round begins at 7 pm, with the semis Monday at 9 am, and the finals following at 12:30 pm. Wayne Middaugh, and defending champion Glenn Howard have already advanced to the quarters on the men’s side, while Erika Brown of Wisconsin has qualified in the women’s section.
The semi-finals go at 10 this morning in the Hub City Shootout at Moncton’s Beaver Curling Club. It will be PEI’s Mike Gaudet rink playing Jamie Brannen of Fredericton NB in one of the games, and Moncton’s Russ Howard playing PEI’s Bill Hope team in the other. The winners will square off in the 1:30 pm finals.
In Saturday night’s quarter-final round, Gaudet knocked off former Canadian men’s and mixed champ Mark Dacey of Halifax, while Brannen beat Mark Kehoe of Windsor. Howard eliminated Rick Perron of the host club, while Hope beat Stephen Burgess of Fredericton. PEI’s Robbie Doherty plays on the Burgess rink.
The championship team in this 16 team event will take home $3400, with $2000 going to the runner-up and $1350 going to the remaining semi-finalists. Kehoe, Perron, Burgess, and Dacey each go home with $950 for making it to the quarter-final round.
Defending champion John Likely of Charlottetown eliminated clubmate Kevin Champion Saturday at noon in this triple-knockout competition, but lost to Howard in the 4 pm draw.
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