The Canadian Masters Curling Championships get underway this afternoon at the Boucherville and St.Lambert Curling Clubs, the first time this event has been held in the province of Quebec. Teams are entered from all provinces except PEI, along with a team from Northern Ontario, and the Yukon and Northwest Territories.
Guy Hemmings, one of Quebec greatest curlers and spokesmen for the sport, has been named honorary president of the Championship.
The Masters Championship, which showcases the best curlers at least 60 years old, starts with a round-robin series for all the participating rinks. From Monday to Friday, more than 100 games will be presented on the sheets of the two south-shore clubs.
Playoffs take place on Saturday and the finals will follow on Sunday. The full competition schedule is available at this address:
http://cccm2012.curlingboucherville.com/images/cccm2012/documents/horairewebf.pdf
Here’s a run down of some of the teams entered:
On the women’s side, team Manitoba skipped by Joyce McDougall, 2011 champions, will be returning to defend their title. The task will not be easy, however, with two time champion Nova Scotia (2006 & 2010) also in the hunt. Team Nova Scotia’s Sharon Clarke was a member of the 1983 Tournament of Hearts championship team.
Québec will be represented by skip Rolande Madore and her teammates Michèle Pagé, Pauline Pagé and Lucille Daigle from Saguenay.
On the men’s side, British-Colombia skip Rick Pughe, 2008 Masters Champion, defeated 2011 national champions in his own province and returns with high expectations.
2010 champion Mike Dorey from Ontario, will also be a serious opponent.
As usual, Alberta, a perennial strength in curling, has to be considered a strong contender. Skip Colin Griffith and his teammates count 194 years of curling experience, an average of 48 years per player.
Another familiar face is skip Toby McDonald of Newfoundland and Labrador. McDonald was Brad Gushue’s coach for many years and accompanied Gushue’s team to Torino, when they won Olympic gold in 2006.
Curling fans should also closely watch Saskatchewan’s Eugene Hritzuk, just back from competing in the Canadian Seniors, where he finished with a 5-6 record. He led his rink to the finals of the 1988 Brier and to the 2009 world senior championship.
Québec hopes are in the hands of a Glenmore-Rosemère clubs team made up of Lawren Steventon, Mike Carson, Jean-Marie Bouchard and Malcolm Baines. In 2003 Baines was a member of the only team from the province of Québec to have won this competition.
For more information and results, visit the web site: http://cccm2012.curlingboucherville.com.