Brent MacDougall did what he had to do today to keep first place and an eye on the bye to Saturday’s championship final with solid wins over contenders Quebec & Ontario at the 2013 Canadian Mixed Curling Championship at the TMR Curling Club in the Town of Mount Royal, Qc.
After edging Quebec’s Mike Fournier earlier today, MacDougall scored a big five points in the 5th and another four points in the 8th end dumping Ontario’s Cory Heggestad 11-4. MacDougall is tied atop the leaderboard with Fournier’s Quebec foursome at seven wins and two losses holding any tie-breaker advantage by virtue of his win over Quebec. Ontario drops into a tie for third place at 5-2 with Jeff Hartung of Langenburg, SK who had an afternoon bye.
CCA photo: Team NB
Three teams are bunched in a tie for 5th place only a game back of third place and the final playoff spot. In a tight Maritime battle of two experienced teams, PEI’s Robert Campbell did not have to throw his last stone in the final end of a tie game when New Brunswick’s James Grattan came just short of sitting shot stone with a difficult draw to the four foot area. The final score was 5-3.
Grattan is one of those 4-3 teams along with BC’s Tom Buchy who had an afternoon bye and Northern Ontario’s Mike Assad. The Thunder Bay skip scored a total of five points in the 5th and 6th ends to stop Steve Fecteau 8-2.
Campbell’s playoff hopes are very much in play sitting at 5-4.
Finally, Fournier rebounded from that tough loss this morning to NS defeating Kurt Balderston of Alberta 10-5. Fournier scored four points in the 2nd end, a deuce in the 6th and three more in the 8th to end the game. Balderston is a surprising 2-5.