Richmond, B.C. — Ontario’s run of perfection continued in the semi-finals of The Dominion Curling Club Championship, with Jodi McCutcheon and Greg Balsdon both scoring impressive wins to clinch berths in the women’s and men’s finals.
McCutcheon, a former competitive player who now just plays once a week with her club team, bailed her team out of trouble over and over to give Ontario a 6-4 win over Northern Ontario’s Melanie Patry. McCutcheon’s High Park squad will now face Manitoba in the final (2 PM PST, 6 PM AST), after Meghan Armit beat Saskatchewan’s Patricia Yeske 5-3. Armit’s team from the Granite Curling Club in Winnipeg took 2 in the first end with hammer, then stole 3 more in the 3rd for a 5-0 lead. Armit finished in impressive style, with a thin double-takeout to run Saskatchewan out of rocks.
In the men’s semi-finals, Balsdon’s club team from Richmond Hill Curling Club scored 4 in the 2nd end to take a 4-1 lead, then playing a more defensive game on their way to a 6-4 win over Dale Dubinsky of Kakabeka Falls.
Balsdon now faces Alberta’s Wade Thurber in the finals. Alberta took advantage of a key 8th end mistake by Newfoundland and Labrador to score 3 with hammer for a 7-6 win. Newfoundland skip Paul Harvey—facing three Alberta stones on his final shot without the hammer, wrecked on a guard, leaving Thurber an open hit for the win.
