PEICurling.com

MIke McEwen from Winnipeg, and Jo-Ann Rizzo from Brantford won their respective finals this afternoon at the $100,000 Sun Life Financial Invitational Curling Classic in Brantford Ont. McEwen edged Martin Ferland of Quebec 6-5, while Rizzo scored a triple in the final end to beat Alberta’s Shannon Kleibrink foursome 7-5.

PEI’s Suzanne Birt rink made it to the quarter-final round. As the eighth and final team to qualify, the PEI rink were playing their third game of the day, and were up against US Olympic contender and former world women’s champion Debbie McCormick, who qualified first. The PEI team, which includes third Shelly Bradley, second Leslie MacDougall, and lead Stefanie Richard, trailed 2-1 going into the final end of the game, where McCormick scored three points for a 5-1 victory.

McCormick lost 5-4 to Rizzo in the semis, while Kleibrink edged  Amber Holland of Saskatchewan 4-3.

In the  men’s semis,  Mike McEwen beat Jean-Michel Minard of Quebec 5-3, while Ferland beat Wayne Middaugh of Ontario 7-5.

Following a tiebreaker game this afternoon at the pre-Trials event at the Silver Fox, all eight teams have now been qualified for the Canada Games Curling Trials, Dec. 11-14 at the Charlottetown Curling Club. The young Tyler Smith rink from the Cornwall Curling Club made it through to the Trials this afternoon, with a 7-4 victory over the Alex Matters foursome from Charlottetown. The eleven year old Cornwall skip stole a deuce in the 5th end en route to the victory. This makes a hat trick for the Cornwall club, with all three teams entered advancing to the Trials. Two teams are from the Montague Curling Club, two from the Maple Leaf club in O’Leary, and one team is from the Silver Fox in Summerside.

Photo (L-R): Tyson Smith, Noah O’Connor, Parker O’Connor, Tyler Smith, coach Kevin Smith

Here are the qualifying teams for the Trials (skip to lead, coach-Club)

Junior Women’s:

#1 Amanda MacLean, Kassinda Bulger, Emily Gray, Aleya Quilty, coaches Glen MacLean/Shelley Gray-Maple Leaf Curling Club (O’Leary)
#2 Jenny McLean, Meaghan MacDonald, Rachael Gardiner, Lauren MacFadyen, coach Don Vickerson-Silver Fox Curling and Yacht Club (Summerside)
#3 Veronica Smith, Katie Fullerton, Sabrina Smith, Chloe McCloskey, coaches Sarah Fullerton/Paul Smith-Cornwall Curling Club
#4 Leah Deveau, Sarah MacPhee, Jessica Chapman, Carolyn Rose, coach Carolyn MacPhee-Montague Curling Club

Junior Men’s:
#1 Tony Nabuurs, Kyle Hughes, Taylor McInnis, Chandler Matheson, coach Arny Nabuurs-Montague Curling Club
#2 Jeff Taylor, Alex Sutherland, Alex Jenkins, Jonathan Schut, coach AJ Campbell-Cornwall Curling Club
#3 Matthew MacLean, Marshall Smallman, Kevin Gallant, Alan MacLean, coach Glen MacLean Maple Leaf Curling Club (O’Leary)
#4 Tyler Smith, Parker O’Connor, Noah O’Connor, Tyson Smith, coach Kevin Smith-Cornwall Curling Club

PEI’s Suzanne Birt rink made it all the way to the quarter-finals of the $100,000 Sun Life Financial Invitational Curling Classic in Brantford Ontario. As the eighth and final team to qualify, they were playing their third game of the day, and were up against US Olympic contender and former world women’s champion Debbie McCormick, who qualified first. The PEI team, which includes third Shelly Bradley, second Leslie MacDougall, and lead Stefanie Richard, trailed 2-1 going into the final end of the game, where McCormick scored three points for a 5-1 victory. McCormick now plays Joanne Rizzo of Ontario in one women’s semi-final, while Shannon Kleibrink of Alberta will play Amber Holland of Saskatchewan in the other. The men’s semis will see Mike McEwen of Winnipeg take on Jean-Michel Minard of Quebec, and Wayne Middaugh of Ontario play Martin Ferland of Quebec in the other.

Semi-finals go at 10 am Atlantic on Monday, with the men’s at women’s finals following at 1:30 pm AT.