The B section finals of the triple-knockout Credit Unions of PEI Provincial Seniors Curling Championships at the Charlottetown Curling Club were decided on Saturday night, with Peter MacDonald stealing a triple in the seventh end in a 9-3 win over Charlottetown clubmate Bill Hope, and Karen MacDonald of Charlottetown scoring triples in ends 1 and 3 to build up an early 6-2 lead in a 10-6 victory over A section winner and defending champion Shirley Berry and her combined Cornwall/Charlottetown team.
As Peter MacDonald has won both A and B sections, he can win the championship in the 7 pm Sunday night draw, by capturing the C division. If not, he has two other chances on Monday, with the two game championship round at 9 am and 2 pm, as a win in either game would give him the title, while his opponent would have to win both games. MacDonald’s team includes Peter Gallant at third, Rod MacDonald at second, and lead stone Doug MacGregor. Rod MacDonald has skipped four out of the last six Labatt Tankard PEI men’s championship teams, while Gallant skipped the other two. Peter MacDonald won Tankards as second back in 1976, and as skip in 1978, 1981, 1996, an 2001. MacGregor is on the 2009 PEI Mixed championship rink.
In C divison play, Sunday morning at 9, Dale Cannon will take on Silver Fox clubmate and defending Seniors champion Mel Bernard, while George Koke of Montague will face Summerside’s Grant Somers. The winners will face Hope and MacDonald, respectively, in the C semi-finals at 2 pm, with the semi winners advancing to the 7 pm C final.
In the women’s division, there will definitely be a championship round on Monday as there are separate A and B section winners. The C division semi-finals go at 9 am, with Shirley Berry playing Cornwall’s Debbie Rhodenhizer, and Karen MacDonald playing Cornwall’s Karen Currie. Rhodenhizer beat Summerside’s Nola Murphy 8-5, while Currie edged Charlottetown’s Joyce White 9-8 Saturday night. The semi winners will face off in the C final at 7 pm. If either Berry or MacDonald win the C final, they will play in both championship games on Monday, and win the title if they take either. If not, the C final winner will play B finalist MacDonald in the first championship game, Monday at 9 am, with that winner taking on Berry at 2 pm for the championship. Other members of the A section-winning Shirley Berry rink are Sandy Hope, Shelley Ebbett, and Arleen Harris, with Paula Creamer, Kay Atkinson, and Karen Hardy rounding out the Karen MacDonald rink, winners of the B section.
The winning men’s and women’s teams will advance to the Canadian Seniors, March 19-28 at the Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club.