Suzanne Gaudet wins 3rd-straight
Scotties Title
Posted Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Defending Scotties champion Suzanne Gaudet had little trouble today defeating Shelly Bradley to win her fifth provincial title in six years.
L-R: Robyn MacPhee, Suzanne Gaudet, Jocelyne Foster (representing title sponsor Kruger Inc.), Carol Webb, Stefanie Clark
The game started well for the Bradley foursome. They scored two in the first end and Gaudet was only able to reply with one point in the second end. But after that it was pretty much all Gaudet all the time. After a blank in the fourth, Gaudet stole one in the fifth and three in the sixth to take a commanding lead. Bradley scored one in the seventh, but Gaudet came right back with one in the eighth. The Bradley foursome conceded. The final score was 8-3.
Suzanne Gaudet and third Robyn MacPhee, second Carol Webb and lead Stefanie Clark now head to the national Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Regina February 16 -24.
(L-R) Tricia Affleck, Janice MacCallum, Shelly Bradley, Tammi Lowther, David Murphy (President, PEI Curling Association), Jocelyne Foster (representing title sponsor Kruger Inc.)
Thanks to the news media, including K-ROCK and Ocean 100 for their on-going coverage. Video from today is available at their websites www.krock1055.com and www.ocean100.com. Thanks also to the CBC for their feature stories, and to the Guardian and the Journal-Pioneer for their extensive web and print coverage.
Posted Monday, January 21, 2008
The "C" event final at the PEI Scotties Tournament of Hearts Provincial Women's Curling Championship was a wild ride.
It featured third seed Donna Butler from Cornwall challenging top seed and defending champion Suzanne Gaudet from the host Charlottetown Curling Club.
And Butler came to play. Cracking a big four points in the fourth end and stealing a point in the fifth, the Cornwall rink, which includes third Marie Molyneaux, second Melissa Andrews, and lead Carolyn Coulson, was ahead by six at the halfway mark and seemingly in complete control.
But Gaudet's team stayed with their game. They powered back with three points in the sixth, stole two in the seventh, three in the eighth and one more in the ninth to take a solid lead into the final end of the game. Gaudet's team hit everything in sight and ran Butler out of rocks. Final score was 10-7.
The win puts Gaudet in a good position to reclaim the PEI Scotties title. A-Division winner Shelly Bradley's team already has two losses and will have to defeat Gaudet twice if they want the championship, while Gaudet, who has won both the B and C divisions of this triple-knockout event, will repeat as champion if she wins either of the two championship games against Bradley, which go at 3 and (if required) 8 pm Tuesday. he much anticipated rematch this afternoon between Suzanne Gaudet and Shelly Bradley was anticlimatic. The Gaudet foursome took control early and outshot the Bradley team. Gaudet stole points in ends three and four and then took a big three-ender in the sixth to win by a decisive margin of 9-5.
In the other game, Donna Butler from Cornwall eliminated Rebecca Jean MacPhee in a game that saw both teams have the lead at different points. By scoring two points in the last end, Butler won the game by a score of 7-4.
Other members of the Gaudet rink are Robyn MacPhee, Carol Webb, Stefanie Clark, and coach Kim Dolan, while Tammi Lowther, who plays third but throws skip stones, Janice MacCallum, and Tricia Affleck, with coach Al Ledgerwood round out team Bradley.
The "B" Event final was played Sunday night at the PEI Scotties Tournament of Hearts, with top seed and defending champion Suzanne Gaudet defeating Charlottetown clubmate Rebecca Jean MacPhee. The Gaudet rink was in control most of the game, but in the tenth nearly gave it away. Gaudet was forced to make a double take-out on her last rock, facing four MacPhee counters, to save the game. Final score was 8-7.
Suzanne Gaudet. Matt Smith photo.
Saturday evening saw the showdown that curling fans had been waiting for: defending champion Suzanne Gaudet taking on the challenger Shelly Bradley in the "A" Final of the PEI Scotties Tournament of Hearts. Both Gaudet and Bradley are from the host Charlottetown Curling Club, and both have made four trips to the national women's championship.
Bradley's foursome took an early four-nothing lead, but Gaudet's team fought back to tie the game at the midway point. Then after a blank in six, Bradley cracked a big three-ender in seven. Gaudet was able to grab one back in eight, but Bradley's lead was regained in the ninth end with a draw to the button by Tammi Lowther. Bradley's team ran Gaudet out of rocks in the tenth. Final score was 8-5.
Photo by Craig Mackie: Bradley rink getting some advice from coach Al Ledgerwood during the A final
Click for photos updated throughout the event.
Click for photos from the opening banquet
View/Print event brochure (PDF, 900K)
Tickets are available at the Charlottetown Curling Club at a cost of $4.00 per draw, $6.00 per day or $25.00 for a competition pass.
Both the provincial and national competitions are sponsored by Kruger Products and its family of brands, including Scotties® facial tissue, Cashmere® and Purex® bathroom tissue, SpongeTowels®, and White Swan® products.