It will be 2003 event champion Suzanne Birt from the Charlottetown Curling Club against 2000, 2004, and 2006 winner Sherry Middaugh from the Brant Curling Club in Brantford Ontario in the 2 pm Atlantic final of the Southwestern Ontario Women’s Charity Classic in London Ontario, with proceeds for the care and cure of breast cancer. The winning rink will take home $7000, while the runner-up will go home with $5000. Both rinks are undefeated in this year’s competition, with Birt edging Scotland’s Sarah Reid 6-5 in the semi-final, while Middaugh downed Sudbury’s Tracy Horgan by a 7-2 score. The Birt rink includes Shelly Bradley, Robyn MacPhee, and Leslie MacDougall, while Jo-Ann Rizzo, Lee Merklinger, and Leigh Armstrong round out the Middaugh foursome.
Birt had Sunday off, after winning 8-3 over Reid on Saturday evening, scoring four points in the fourth end and a seventh end triple en route to the victory. Friday, Team Birt won 8-6 over the Marika Bakewell rink of London, and 6-2 over Toronto’s Julie Reddick in the 16 team event. By virtue of qualifying in the A section, Middaugh and Birt both advanced directly to this morning’s semi-finals.
PEICurling.com photo: Birt, Bradley, MacPhee, MacDougall at the 2011 Scotties
In its previous 14 editions, this event has raised more than $195,000 for breast cancer care and research, and will surpass $200,000 this time around.
Website: sowcc.com
Meanwhile, Calgary’s Crystal Webster rink, with PEI natives Erin Carmody and Geri-Lynn Ramsay on the team, are 4-0 and also had Sunday off, having qualified early for the Monday morning quarter-finals at the Meyers Norris Penny Charity Classic in Medicine Hat Alberta. Scotland’s Eve Muirhead is also 4-0. The winning team will go home with $8000.
In the quarters, which got underway at noon Atlantic time, Webster is playing Jill Thurston of Winnipeg, Muirhead is taking on Liudmilla Privivkova of Moscow, Bingyu Wang of China is facing Lisa Johnson of Edmonton, and Nadine Chyz of Calgary is against Satsuki Fujisawa of Nagano Japan.
Website: http://www.worldcurlingtour.com/events.php?eventid=2519