Top field to compete in this weekend’s Rodd Classic

Posted on by November 3, 2010
Rodd 2010
The 2010 Rodd Curling Classic, sponsored by Rodd Hotels and Resorts, returns to the Charlottetown Curling Club from November 4-7. Defending champions Shawn Adams of Halifax, and Andrea Kelly of Fredericton NB are both back to defend their titles. A full slate of 18 men’s and 12 women’s teams from across the Maritimes will be competing in this round robin event, with three pools in the men’s section, and two in the women’s. The men’s prize structure will see $5000 going to the first place team, $2500 to the runner-up, 3rd and 4th place finishers getting $2500 each, while the 5th and 6th place teams will go home with $1600. On the women’s side, the winning team takes home $3100, with $2100 to the second place team, and $1250 for third and fourth place. There is also a $40 payout per round robin win in the women’s section.

The teams in the Wally Rodd men’s pool are skipped by Robert Campbell of Charlottetown, Eddie MacKenzie, also from the host Charlottetown club, the Jeff Hopkins and Sean Audas rinks from Halifax, the Chad Stevens team from Dartmouth and Chester NS, and Team Suburu of Halifax, skipped by Doug MacKenzie.

The David Rodd division includes reigning PEI Tankard and Seniors champion Rod MacDonald, and nine-time PEI Tankard winner Peter Gallant, with a new team which includes his son, former World Junior Silver Medallist Brett Gallant, who has decided to move out of the Junior ranks this year. Rounding out this division are Jamie Brannen of Fredericton, and Brent MacDougall, Danny Christianson, and Jamie Murphy, all from Halifax. MacDougall won the highly-successful Gahan Brewery Cashspiel in Montague last weekend by an 8-3 score over PEI’s Kevin Champion.

Champion is in the Mark Rodd Division, which also includes PEI teams skipped byJohn Likely and John Derosiers, along with Nova Scotia rinks headed by defending champion Shawn Adams, along with Glen MacLeod, and Mark Kehoe.

In the women’s section, the Sally Rodd division has only one PEI team, skipped by newlywed Rebecca Jean MacPhee, a six-time PEI Scotties champ. Defending champion Andrea Kelly is in that division, along with other New Brunswick rinks skipped by Sylvie Robichaud and Rebecca Atkinson, and Nova Scotia’s Marie Christianson and Jennifer Crouse teams.

The Linda Rodd decision features three teams from PEI, including Canadian Scotties silver medallist Kathy O’Rourke, former world junior champion and five time PEI Scotties winner Suzanne Birt, and Cornwall’s Donna Butler rink. Other teams in the division are skipped by four time Ontario Scotties champ Theresa Breen, now living in Halifax, along with Jocelyn Nix and Sarah Rhyno, also from the Nova Scotia capital.

Play gets underway Thursday at 1 pm, with two Scotties favorites Birt and O’Rourke in one of the games, and two Tankard contenders MacDonald and Gallant in another. The other three opening matches see Robert Campbell take on Charlottetown clubmate Eddie MacKenie,  Charlottetown’s John Likely play Mark Kehoe, and Rebecca Jean MacPhee face Sylvie Robichaud. The finals are on Sunday.

Click for full schedule.

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