The Roddie MacLean and Carol Sweetapple teams from the Cornwall Curling Club have earned byes to tomorrow’s finals in the men’s and women’s divisions respectively of The Medicine Shoppe Provincial Masters Curling Championships, for curlers age 60 and over, being played at the Crapaud Community Curling Club.
In the eleven team men’s section, MacLean, with teammates Ron Giggey, Edgar Coffin, and George Younker, scored four points in the final end this morning to beat Lou Nowlan of Summerside, a five-time Masters champion, by a 9-6 score in the “A” section final of this double-knockout event. MacLean then beat Bob Acorn of Charlottetown by a 7-3 score to advance to the B section final, 10 am on Thursday. In that game, he’ll be playing Clair Sweet of O’Leary’s Maple Leaf club, who edged Louis Walsh of the Silver Fox 6-5 in an extra end this morning, and doubled Nowlan 6-3 this afternoon.
If Sweet wins the B final, he’ll face MacLean again in the 2 pm championship final. If MacLean is the winner, the final will not be necessary, and his team will be declared the champion. Playing with Sweet are Bob Matheson, Cliff Poirier, and Wayne Arsenault.
In the four team women’s division, Carol Sweetapple got by Cornwall clubmate Ruth Stavert by a 6-4 score to win this morning’s “A” final, but did not advance to the B final, losing this afternoon to six-time defending champion Jeanne Duffenais of the Silver Fox by a 7-1 score. Rounding out the Sweetapple rink are Marie MacDonald, Danielle Girard, and Karen Fisher.
In the other qualifier game for the B final, Stavert lost out to another Cornwall clubmate, Diane MacKay, by a 9-3 score. MacKay scored five points in the fifth end en route to the win. So it’s Duffenais vs MacKay in the B final, Thursday morning at 10. The winner of that game will then play Sweetapple in the 2 pm final. Other members of the Duffenais rink are Georgie Coulson, Marg Nowlan, and Pat Barrett, while Val MacLean, Eileen Blanchard, and Marilyn Diamond complete the MacKay foursome.
Men’s and women’s winners and runners-up advance to the Maritime Masters Championships, February 14-17 at the Beaver Curling Club in Moncton. Winners may also participate in the Canadian Masters, March 28-April 4 in Saint John.