IQALUIT, Nunavut, November 14 (CCA)…Manitoba will face Ontario in the final of the 46th edition of the Canadian Mixed Curling Championship, Saturday at 2:00 pm at the Arniatok Arena.

Manitoba, skipped by Sean Grassie of Winnipeg, finished first after the completion of the round robin with a 10-1 record and advanced to the final.

Meanwhile, Ontario, skipped by Wayne Tuck of Brantford, had to fight through a third-place tiebreaker and the semi-final on Friday, in order to play on Saturday. 

Firstly, Ontario defeated Nova Scotia (Mark Dacey of Halifax), 8-4 in the tiebreaker for third place.  Then, it hooked Saskatchewan (Darrell McKee of Saskatoon) in the semi-final.

In a very well-curled match,  Ontario managed to take one in the 10th to eke out a 6-5 win, after blanking the eighth and ninth ends.   Ontario shot 89%, while Saskatchewan was just a point behind at 88%.

Ontario has won only two Mixed trophies since the championship began in 1964 in Toronto.   The latest came courtesy of skip John Epping in 2005 in Whitehorse.  Manitoba has won eight Mixed crowns, but the last win came in 1991 in Thunder Bay by Winnipeg’s Jeff Stoughton.

Manitoba defeated Ontario, 8-2 in the first draw of the 2009 Canadian Mixed, which is being presented by First Air, last Saturday.

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.