(CCA/PEICA) Prince Edward Island’s Robert Campbell rink is now alone in first place at the Canadian Mixed Curling Championship, with an 8-1 win-loss record, after beating Nova Scotia’s Paul Flemming team by a 6-4 score this morning, taking three points in the first two ends for an early lead. PEI and Nova Scotia were tied going into this morning’s draw. Nova Scotia is now tied for second, with Manitoba, at 7-2.
On Wednesday, Campbell, who won the 1989 Mixed in Brandon, when the championship was last held in Manitoba, had a perfect day, defeating British Columbia, 8-7 and Saskatchewan, 7-5.
Flemming, a two-time Mixed champion, having won in 1999 and 2003, also directed his ‘bluenosers’ to a pair of wins on Wednesday, 9-3 over Northwest Territories/Yukon, and, in a key encounter, 6-4 over former leader Manitoba, in the evening draw. Flemming is trying to join Saskatchewan’s Larry McGrath as the only skips to win the Mixed on three occasions.
Round robin play continues with two more Thursday draws and a final draw on Friday morning, after which the first place team advances directly to Saturday’s final, while the second and third place teams meet in a semi-final following any required tiebreakers. PEI plays Alberta Thursday night at 8:30 Atlantic, and finishes round robin play against Northwest Territories/Yukon on Friday morning, beginning at 11 am AT.
Alberta leads all provinces with nine Mixed titles since the championship began in 1964 in Toronto. Manitoba and Saskatchewan are next with eight Mixed crowns apiece.
Prince Edward Island has two wins, the last by Campbell in 1989, and the first by Peter Gallant in 1987, while Nova Scotia, with seven titles overall, is the defending champion, having won last season in Burlington with skip Mark Dacey. Ontario also has two wins, the last in 2006.
Two players from the winning team will represent Canada at the World Mixed Doubles Championship, slated for April 15-24 in St. Paul, Minnesota.