Two days of play are complete at the PEI Canada Games curling pre-Trials at the Silver Fox Curling and Yacht Club in Summerside. Four teams from both the junior women’s and junior men’s divisions will advance to the Trials Dec. 11-14 at the Charlottetown Curling Club. The Amanda MacLean rink from the Maple Leaf Curling Club in O’Leary was the first team to qualify for the Trials, doubling the Jenny McLean foursome from the host Silver Fox club by a 6-3 score Saturday morning in the A section of the eight team triple-knockout junior women’s event. Other members of the Amanda MacLean rink are Kassinda Bulger, Emily Gray, and Aleya Quilty, with coaches Glen MacLean and Shelley Gray.
The Jenny McLean foursome get another chance to qualify, in the 10 am draw on Sunday, when they face Montague’s Leah Deveau foursome in the B division final. The Deveau team beat Cornwall’s Veronica Smith rink by a 6-3 score Saturday afternoon to advance to the qualifer game.
There will be two qualifiers from the C division, with the Smith rink playing the Kim Dunbar foursome from Charlottetown, and Charlottetown’s Emily Keen team facing the loser of the B qualifier between McLean and Deveau. These games go at 2 pm Sunday.
Keen dropped to the C division by losing 8-5 to Smith on Saturday morning, and then had a bye to the qualifer game, as Fallon Arsenault of Summerside had dropped out of the event due to illness. Dunbar edged Charlottetown clubmate Megan Davies by an 8-7 score to advance to her C qualifier.
In the six team round robin junior men’s section, the Tony Nabuurs rink from Montague are assured of qualifying for the trials, as, with just one round robin draw left, they are the only team with three wins. Playing with Nabuurs are Kyle Hughes, Taylor McInnis, and Chandler Matheson, with coach Arny Nabuurs. There are four teams at 2-2, with Jeff Taylor playing Cornwall clubmate Tyler Smith, and Alex Matters of Charlottetown taking on Matthew MacLean of O’Leary’s Maple Leaf club at 10 am Sunday. The winners of these two games are also assured of qualifying spots. Nabuurs takes on Shawn Pitre of Alberton’s Western Community Club in the other game. Pitre is at 1-3. Tiebreakers will be required for the final spot, as at least two teams will have 2-3 records, and PEICA rules dictate that no team may be eliminated solely on win-loss records. If Pitre loses against Nabuurs tomorrow, there will be one tiebreaker round, at 2 pm. If he wins, he will also have a 2-3 record, necessitating a second tiebreaker round, Monday at 2 pm.
The eventual winner of the Trials in Charlottetown will advance to the Canada Games, February 11-27 in Halifax.