The defending champion Shirley Berry rink from the Cornwall and Charlottetown curling clubs, and the Peter MacDonald rink from the host Charlottetown Curling Club have captured the A sections of the triple-knockout Credit Unions of PEI Provincial Seniors Curling Championships. In the Friday afternoon women’s A final, Berry, playing with Sandy Hope, Shelley Ebbett, and Arleen Harris, with coach Butch McGee, beat the Karen MacDonald rink of Charlottetown 7-5. Berry then went on to beat Cornwall’s Karen Currie team 12-7 in the evening draw, stealing a triple in the final end, while MacDonald recorded a 9-2 win over Cornwall’s Debbie Rhodenhizer rink. This means that MacDonald and Berry will square off again in the B final, Saturday evening at 7. Other members of the MacDonald team are Paula Creamer, Kay Atkinson, and Karen Hardy.
The men’s A final was played Friday evening, with the team of Peter MacDonald, Peter Gallant, Rod MacDonald, and Doug MacGregor beating the Bill Hope rink, also from Charlottetown by a 7-5 score. In the B section, MacDonald will now play the winner of a 9 am Saturday game between Clair Sweet of O’Leary and defending champion Mel Bernard of Summerside, while Hope, whose rink includes Craig Mackie at third, six-time Seniors champion skip Ted MacFadyen at second, and Mike Coady in the lead position, will meet the winner of a 9 am game between Dale Cannon and Grant Somers, both from the Silver Fox. These games go at 2 pm, with the winner advancing to the B final at 7.
The C divison games go on Sunday in both the men’s and women’s sections, with draws at 9 am (men and women) and 2 (men only) and conclude with the C finals at 7 pm.
The section winners will then advance to the two game championship round on Monday at 9 am and 2 pm. If either Shirley Berry or Peter MacDonald win all three of their sections, their championship round would not be needed. If a team wins two sections, they would take the championship if they won either championship round game.
The winning men’s and women’s teams will advance to the Canadian Seniors, March 19-28 in Ottawa. Eleven men’s and seven women’s teams are taking part in the PEI Seniors.