In opening round play Thursday night at the M&M Meat Shops Provincial Mixed Curling Championship, defending champion Bill Hope of Charlottetown lost 12-7 to 2005 winner Larry Dewar, from the Montague Curling Club. Dewar built a big lead early by following a second end triple with stolen deuces in three and four. In other games, 2007 champ Kyle Stevenson of Charlottetown got by clubmate Nick van Ouwerkerk by a 9-7 score, Jeff Nelson of Montague beat least year’s runner-up, Rob Young of Cornwall 9-2, taking four points in the sixth end, and Crapaud’s Tony Quigley, who got off to a fast start with four points in the first end, and three in the second, went on to beat David Murphy of Charlottetown 11-9.
Double-knockout play continues on Friday with draws at 9, 2, and 7. Saturday draws are also at 9, 2 and 7, with the A final at 2. The B final goes Sunday morning at 9, with the championship game following at 2. In the event that the same team wins both A and B, the championship game will not be required.
The winning team will advance to the 2010 Canadian Mixed Curling Championships, which take place November 15-22, 2009 at the Burlington Golf and Country Club in Burlington Ontario.