PEICurling.com

The Provincial Masters Curling Championships, for curlers 60 years of ago and older, are down to the final few draws at the Maple Leaf Curling Club in O’Leary. Round robin play concluded Tuesday morning in the four team women’s division, with Diane MacKay of Cornwall and five- time defending champion Jeanne Duffenais from the Silver Fox finishing with two wins and one loss, while Myrna Sanderson of Cornwall and Wanda Collings of Alberton finished at 1 and 2. MacKay finished first, after round robin results against each other were compared, and advanced directly to the 1 pm Wednesday final, with Duffenais playing in the semi. The battle for third place had to go to a tiebreaker game, as PEICA rules dictate that tied teams cannot be eliminated from a playoff round without a tiebreaker. Collings doubled Sanderson 6-3 in the tiebreaker, to grab the remaining spot in the semi, which will be played at 9 am on Wednesday, with the winner going to the 1 pm final.March 1-5, at the Mayflower Curling Club in Halifax.

In Tuesday round robin play, Sanderson beat Collings 7-2, while MacKay beat Duffenais 7-3.

Meanwhile, four teams remain undefeated in the nine team double-knockout men’s section. John Holmes of the Silver Fox scored three points in the final end to edge defending champion Bob MacWilliams of Cornwall by a 9-8 score in the A final. Wednesday morning at 9, Holmes faces his clubmate and former champion Lou Nowlan, while MacWilliams takes on Bob Maynard of the Fox. The winners will square off in the B final at 1 pm Wednesday. If Holmes is in that game and wins it, he will become the PEI Masters men’s champ. If not, the sudden-death final between A winner Holmes and the B winner wil go Thursday at 1 pm.

In other Tuesday action, the Leslie Hardy foursome from the Western Community club in Alberton eliminated Alfred (Chick) Morrison and his combined Charlottetown/Cornwall team with a 5-1 score, but lost 10-1 to Nowlan in his next game. Maynard beat clubmate Louis Walsh 8-3, and Cornwall’s Sterling Stratton 7-3.

The winners and runners-up of both the women’s and men’s divisions will earn the right to play in the Maritime Masters,  

The Open Playdowns portion of the Labatt Tankard Provincial Men’s Curling Championship gets underway Thursday evening at the Western Community Curling Club in Alberton. Fourteen teams, ten from the Charlottetown Curling Club, two from the Silver Fox Curling and Yacht Club in Summerside, and two from the Maple Leaf Curling Club in O’Leary, are entered in this triple knockout competition which will select eight teams for the Final Eight championship round, February 10-15 at the Montague Curling Club. Last year’s champions were the rink of Peter Gallant, Kevin Champion, Mark O’Rourke, and John Desrosiers. Gallant and Desrosiers are not competing in this event this year, but Champion and O’Rourke are members of the Rod MacDonald rink. The Playdowns wrap up Sunday evening. The winning team from the Final Eight will advance to the Tim Hortons Brier, March 7-15 in Calgary. Live results from both the Playdowns and the Final Eight will be available at peicurling.com/tankard

Eight of the fourteen teams have been seeded in the draw as a result of cashspiel winnings this season.

Here are the team rosters and seedings (skip to lead – club):
#1 Mike Gaudet, Eddie MacKenzie, Tyler Harris, Sean Clarey – Charlottetown

#2 John Likely, Philip Gorveatt, Mark Butler, Mike Dillon, Robert Campbell – Charlottetown

#3 Rod MacDonald, Kevin Champion, Andrew Robinson, Mark O’Rourke, 5th Peter MacDonald, coach Pat Aylward – Charlottetown

#4 Kyle Stevenson, Ben Blanchard, Kyle MacDonald, Doug MacGregor – Charlottetown
#5 Bill Hope, Dennis Watts, Jeff Gallant, Phillip MacInnis – Charlottetown
#6 Jamie Newson, Tim Hockin, Darren Higgins, Matthew MacCarville – Charlottetown

#7 Robert Shaw, Tom Fetterly, Robbie Younker, Sandy MacPhee – Charlottetown
#8 Mel Bernard, Blair Jay, Doug Simmons, Earle Proude – Silver Fox

Unseeded:

Terry Arsenault, Kevin Ellsworth, Pat Aylward, Brian Marcipont – Silver Fox

Daryl MacDonald Glen Betts Lowell Morrison Joey Ellsworth – Maple Leaf
Ted MacFadyen, Craig Mackie, David Murphy, Mike Coady, coach Al Ledgerwood – Charlottetown
Calvin Smith, Kevin Smith, Todd Gilbert, Richie Hughes – Charlottetown
Clair Sweet, Bob Matheson, Muncey Harris, Wayne Arsenault – Maple Leaf
Jeff Wilson, Lincoln Peters, Matt Praught, Nick VanOuwerkerk, 5th Brent Campbell, coaches Tom Peters and Robbie Roberts – Charlottetown

Here are the opening draws:

Thursday, January 29th, 6 pm

Mel Bernard (Silver Fox) vs Daryl MacDonald (Maple Leaf)

Bill Hope (Ch’town) vs Ted MacFadyen (Ch’town)

Rod MacDonald (Ch’town) vs Calvin Smith (Ch’town)

Friday, January 30th, 10:30 am

Kyle Stevenson (Ch’town) vs Clair Sweet (Maple Leaf)

Jamie Newson (Ch’town) vs Jeff Wilson (Ch’town)

Robert Shaw (Ch’town) vs Terry Arsenault (Silver Fox)

Friday, January 30th, 2 pm

Mike Gaudet (Ch’town) vs winner Bernard/MacDonald game (Thursday at 6 pm)

Friday, January 30th, 6 pm

John Likely (Ch’town) vs winner Shaw/Arsenault game (Friday at 10:30 am)

JASON SIMMONDS -Tr anscontinental Media

SUMMERSIDE — A 10th-end measurement was required to determine the 2009 P.E.I. Scotties Tournament of Hearts champion.

Robyn MacPhee of Charlottetown was awarded a single point and emerged with a 9-7 victory over clubmate Kim Dolan in the final game of the P.E.I. women’s curling championship Monday night at the Silver Fox Curling and Yacht Club.
Click to read this Transcontinental Media story in today’s Guardian