IQALUIT, Nunavut, November 13 (CCA)…Manitoba, skipped by Sean Grassie of Winnipeg, has clinched first place and a berth in Saturday’s final (2:00 pm ET) at the Canadian Mixed Curling Championship.
Thursday evening at the Arniatok Arena, in a showdown with Saskatchewan (Darrell McKee of Saskatoon), Manitoba prevailed 9-6, with a four-ender in the eighth end proving to be the dagger. Grassie is a former (1999) provincial junior champion.
The victory improved Manitoba’s record to 9-1, with one more round robin game to play Friday morning against Prince Edward Island, while Saskatchewan dropped to 9-2, good enough for second spot, though, and a berth in the semi-final Friday evening.
In other Draw 16 games, Ontario (Wayne Tuck of Brantford) clinched at least a tie for third with an 8-2 win over Alberta (Tom Appelman of Edmonton), finishing with an 8-3 record. Nova Scotia (Mark Dacey of Halifax) kept its playoff hopes alive by burying the Territories (George Lennie of Inuvik), 11-3, while Quebec (Simon Hebert of Thetford Mines) upended Northern Ontario (Ian Fisher of Sault Ste. Marie), 9-5. PEI’s Bill Hope rink is out of the playoffs, tied for sixth place with New Brunswick at 5-5, after splitting Thursay’s games, losing to 4-2 to BC, and winning 8-6 over Newfoundland-Labrador.
The round robin concludes Friday morning with Draw 17, beginning at 10:00 am ET. In the only game with playoff implications, Nova Scotia, with a 7-3 mark, faces New Brunswick (Scott Jones of Moncton) and must win in order to force a Friday afternoon tiebreaker against Ontario for third place.
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.
However, Manitoba’s last win in the Canadian Mixed came courtesy of skip Jeff Stoughton in 1991 in Thunder Bay, while Saskatchewan’s latest win came in 1996 in Charlottetown, courtesy of skip Randy Bryden.
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.
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.