PEICurling.com

The 4 pm Friday draw saw the first of the elimination games at the 2008 Sobeys Slam in New Glasgow NS, and in a bit of a shocker, Shannon Kleibrink was eliminated after losing 7-6 to Karen Porritt in an extra end. Kleibrink scored 3 in the eighth to force the extra, but Porritt took advantage of the hammer to get her single point and stay alive in the triple knockout event. Kleibrink lost in three straight, losing her opener to Cornwall’s Donna Butler on Thursday, and her second game to Renee Sonnenberg of Alberta.

Second seed Jennifer Jones was also on her last legs, but had more luck, ousting the Nova Scotia rink skipped by Jill Mouzar 6-5. Nancy McConnery, also from Nova Scotia, was eliminated after a 6-3 loss to Cathy King, which was King’s first victory at the Sobeys Slam in two years of travel to Pictou County. Another rink with a Nova Scotia connection has been eliminated, as the Kelly Scott rink, skipped this week by Colleen Jones, fell to Amber Holland 5-4 to be eliminated.

Along with six elimination games in the seventh draw, there was one match in the ‘B’ Event, with Suzanne Birt of PEI sending Marie France Larouche of Quebec to the ‘C’ event after an 8-3 decision. Larouche, who made the final of last year’s Slam after qualifying from the ‘A’ Event, will now face Amber Holland in an elimination game Saturday morning. The PEI rink now sports a 3-1 win-loss record. Earlier on Friday, they beat Jill Mouzar of Halifax 9-4.

The first two Quarter-Finalists were determined in the 7:30 pm draw, with, Mary Anne Arsenault of Halifax beating Stephanie Lawton of Saskatoon 8-6 in one ‘A’ Event match, while Bingyu Wang shaded Sherry Middaugh 5-4 in the other. Lawton now plays Suzanne Birt Saturday morning at 8:30.

Cornwall’s Donna Butler rink also moved to 3-1 with a decisive 9-2 win over Sylvie Robichaud of New Brunswick on Friday evening, picking up four points in the seventh end. Butler now faces Middaugh at 8:30 Saturday morning. Earlier on Friday, Butler beat Carrie Lindner of St. Catharines Ont. 7-5.

A demonstration by Shawny Ross of vision-impaired curling will take place Sunday November 30 at 4 pm at the Charlottetown Curling Club. You may have seen the story on Compass featuring Shawny and a small but growing group of vision-impaired curlers hoping to start a league and send the first PEI team to the National Vision Impaired Championships.  Come out and support them and spread the word to anyone who might be interested in participating or just watching. Everyone is welcome!

PEI’s Donna Butler and Suzanne Birt rinks won their first Friday games at the Sobeys Slam in New Glasgow NS, and move to 2-1 win-loss records.

Birt played Jill Mouzar (not Mary Anne Arsenault as we previously reported!) of Halifax this morning, and won 9-4, with two four-point ends. Butler scored three points in the seventh end in a 7-5 win over Carrie Lindner of St. Catharines Ont.

Birt faces Marie-France LaRouche at 4 pm, while Butler meets New Brunswick provincial champion Sylvie Robichaud at 7:30 pm.

ADAM RICHARDSON
Transcontinental Media

NEW GLASGOW, N.S. — There wasn’t a bunch of hype surrounding Donna Butler’s rink from Cornwall, P.E.I., at the Sobeys Slam.

After all, the team needed a regional qualifier just to reach the main draw, and was pitted against top seed and Olympic bronze-medallist Shannon Kleibrink in the first game Thursday.

She flew in under the radar, but after that noon contest at the Bluenose Curling Club, Butler won’t sneak up on anybody else this week.
Click to read this story in today’s Guardian

Click for photo from the New Glasgow Daily News