The 10 am Thursday semi-finalists have now been determined for the Ferguson Funeral Homes PEI Stick Curling Championships at the Silver Fox Curling & Yacht Club in Summerside, with the winners advancing to the championship game, and the losers playing for third and fourth place in the bronze medal game, both at noon.
The three-time defending champion duo of Walter Callaghan and John Vincent from the Western Community Curling Club in Alberton, and the only other team to ever win the men’s event, the Sterling Stratton and Ernie Stavert twosome from the Cornwall Curling Club, who won in 2007 and 2008, finished in first place in their respective pools, both with 4-1 records, and earned byes to tomorrow’s semis, where Stratton/Stavert will take on the Floyd Stewart/Gordon MacDonald team from Montague, and Callaghan/Vincent will play the Peter Larter/Eddie Bernard team duo from Alberton.
In today’s semi-finals between second and third place teams, Stewart/MacDonald (3-3) beat the Charlie Campbell/Barry Craswell (3-3) rink from Cornwall 7-2, and Larter/Bernard (4-2) edged the Bazil and Sterling Higginbotham team (3-3) from Montague by a 3-2 score.
There is one draw remaining, at 10 am Thursday, in the women’s double round robin, but it’s not really required, as the defending champion Ruth Stavert/Gloria Clarke rink from the Cornwall Curling Club have already won the championship, as they currently have a spotless 5-0 record, with the next best team, Audrey Callaghan of the Western Community club, and Ann Barwise of the Maple Leaf Curling Club in O’Leary, at 3-2, set to finish as runners-up. Even if Stavert/Clarke were to lose and Callaghan/Barwise were to win their remaining games, the defending champs would still be ahead, and be declared the winners, as the rules specify that the noon final game would be played only in the event that two teams are tied for first. The other two women’s teams, the Shirley Lank/Mary Plamondon team and the Karen Fisher/Elaine Hughes team, both from Cornwall are currently at 1-4, and cannot catch Callaghan/Barwise for the runner-up spot.
The top four men’s teams and the top two women’s rinks from this competition earn the right to compete in the Maritime Stick Curling Championships, March 13-15 at the Amherst Curling Club in Nova Scotia. The top two men’s teams may also compete at the 2012 Canadian Open Stick Curling Championship, April 3-5 at the Highland Curling Club in Regina.
In stick curling there are two curlers per team, who deliver their rocks with delivery sticks, with each team member delivering from opposite ends. Sweeping is allowed only from the hog line to the back of the house at the playing end. Two curlers, one from each team, alternately deliver 6 stones each per end, while their teammate skips that end. The roles are then reversed, and the partners deliver the stones back. No stone may be removed from play until the fourth stone of each end. Games are six ends and take about an hour to play. For more information on stick curling, including complete rules of play, visit www.stickcurling.ca.
