IQALUIT, Nunavut, November 13 (CCA)…Ontario, skipped by Wayne Tuck of Brantford, won a huge battle this morning over Nova Scotia (Mark Dacey of Halifax), 7-6 at the Canadian Mixed Curling Championship being played at Arniatok Arena.

The victory improved Ontario’s record to 7-3, as it temporarily sits alone in third place, behind idle (8-1) Saskatchewan (Darrell McKee of Saskatoon) and (7-1) Manitoba (Sean Grassie of Winnipeg).

Tuck was able to build a comfortable 7-2 lead after seven ends, helped by a steal of three in the fourth, then desperately hung on as Dacey cut the margin with a single in eighth, a steal of one in the ninth and two more in the 10th.    With the loss, Nova Scotia fell back to 6-3, now tied with Northern Ontario (Ian Fisher of Sault Ste. Marie).   Tuck finished third at the 2002 Canadian Mixed in Halifax, which was won by Dacey.

In another key contest, New Brunswick (Scott Jones of Moncton) stayed alive in the playoff hunt with an 8-5 decision over Newfoundland and Labrador (Andrew Mercer of St. John’s).  New Brunswick is now 5-4, while Newfoundland and Labrador is 2-7.

In other Draw 14 action, Alberta (Tom Appelman of Edmonton) won its third straight, 8-6 over still winless (0-9) Territories (George Lennie of Inuvik), and is now 3-6, while British Columbia (Greg Monkman of New Westminster) defeated Prince Edward Island (Bill Hope of Charlottetown), 4-2.     PEI dropped to 4-5, while BC is 4-6.

Round robin play continues with draws at 2:30 pm and 7:00 pm today, with a final draw Friday morning at 10:00 am, after which the first place team will advance directly to the final on Saturday, November 15, while the second and third place teams meet in a semi-final to determine the other finalist.

In addition to a Canadian title, two players from the winning team will also represent Canada at the 2009 World Mixed Doubles Championship, slated for April 17-25, 2009 in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.

Alberta has won a leading nine Mixed titles since the championship began in 1964.  Saskatchewan is next with eight, Manitoba has won seven, Nova Scotia six and Ontario only two.

This 46th edition of the Canadian Mixed, presented by First Air, marks the first time that a Canadian sport championship has been contested in Iqaluit, Nunavut.