Robertson Earns Bye to the Final; Hanlon in First Place
After this morning’s draw at the 2011 World Financial Group Canadian Senior Curling Championships in Digby, NS, Manitoba’s Kelly Robertson has earned the bye to the final Saturday afternoon. Robertson defeated BC’s Greg McAulay 7-4 to run his record to 9-1. Coupled with NL’s loss to Quebec, the Neepawa CC team is guaranteed that coveted spot in the final before their game later today against Jeff Thomas.
Thomas had a shot at first place today with a win over Quebec, but a disastrous finish let the chance slip away. The St. John’s rink gave up three points in the 10th end and then another steal of two in the extra end to lose 8-6.
Five other teams remain in contention. SK’s Brad Heidt at 6-3, Alberta’s Brad Hannah at 6-4 with this morning’s won over Northern Ontario, the host province’s Scott Saunders at 5-4, Robbie Maclean of Quebec at 5-5 and Ontario’s Racette at 4-5. PEI’s Bill Hope rink picked up a 9-7 win over New Brunswick to go to 4-6, not good enough for the playoffs.
Thursday afternoon key match-ups are SK vs BC, QC vs NS and AB vs ON.
NB’s Heidi Hanlon has a temporary hold on first place having played one more game to date than Ontario and Saskatchewan. Hanlon edged PEI’s June Moyart 5-3 to move to 8-2 and a guaranteed tie-breaker berth. The loss eliminated PEI (5-5) from post round robin play.
Alberta’s Diane Foster kept her playoff hopes alive with an 8-5 win over Northern Ontario and sits alone in 4th place at 7-3. The loss also eliminated Barbara Ward of Thunder Bay from the playoffs.
Still alive in the hunt for a playoff berth is NS’s Nancy Delahunt (with Colleen Jones throwing fourth stones) at 5-4. The home province team will need two wins today and some help to make the playoffs.
All four women’s games this afternoon are key match-ups.
For full results: www.curling.ca/championships/seniors/draw-schedule/