Four of the nine PEI teams competing at the Molson Hub City Shootout cashspiel in Moncton have advanced to today’s playoffs. PEI’s Suzanne Birt is atop the women’s standings with a perfect 4-0 record, with just one round robin draw remaining, at 8 am, where Birt plays second place Andrea Kelly of New Brunswick, who has a 3-1 record.  The top two teams advance to the noon finals, and, as the next best records are 2-2, Birt should be in the noon final, no matter who wins the morning game. PEI’s Donna Butler and Meaghan Hughes sit at 1-3.

In the 24 team men’s section, PEI’s Brett Gallant, along with Moncton’s Terry Odishaw, went undefeated in the A section of the triple knockout event to grab the first two spots on Friday. In the B section, qualifier number three was won by New Brunswick’s Jason Vaughan, who defeated PEI’s Robert Shaw rink 6-4 on Saturday, while Rod MacDonald beat Mike Gaudet 6-2 in a battle of Summerside skips to take slot number four. Down in the sudden death C division, John Luckhurst beat fellow Nova Scotian Rob Harris to take qualifier number five. PEI’s Shaw edged Paul Dobson (NB) 5-4 in an extra end to win qualifer six, with Jeremy Mallais (NB) beating James Grattan (B) 8-5 for slot seven, and Marc Lecocq of NB stealing the last two ends to edge PEI’s Mike Gaudet 6-5 to take the final qualifier.

The men’s quarter-finals go at 9 am, with the semis at noon, and the final at 3.