Daily Archives: January 24, 2013

Experience prevails in PEI Scotties draw 2

Posted on by January 24, 2013

There were no upset wins in draw 2 at the PEI Scotties Tournament of Hearts Provincial Women’s Curling Championship this evening at the Charlottetown Curling Complex, as the skips with multiple Scotties wins prevailed over their less experienced counterparts, and neither game went the full count.

dolan800Photo: Dolan

Nine-time PEI Scotties winner and defending champion Kim Dolan defeated Tammy Dewar and her Montague team (the only non-Charlottetown entry in the five team field) 9-2, scoring a triple in the eighth end to put the game out of reach for the Dewar squad.

birt800Photo: Birt

In the other game, six-time winner Suzanne Birt took a single in the first end, and stole three singles and a deuce in the next four ends for a 6-0 lead over the Lisa Jackson foursome. The teams traded deuces in ends six and seven, and it was handshake time, with an 8-2 final score.

After two draws, Kathy O’Rourke, another six-time PEI Scotties winner, who had the evening draw off, and Birt lead the round robin standings with  1-0 win-loss records, while Dolan and Jackson are 1-1, and Dewar is 0-2.

Draws Friday go at 11 am and 4 pm.
The morning draw sees O’Rourke take on Jackson, and Dewar play Birt.
The afternoon matchups have Birt taking on Dolan, and Dewar facing O’Rourke. Round robin play wraps up Saturday at 2 pm, with Jackson playing Dolan, and O’Rourke taking on Birt.

Tiebreakers, if needed, go Saturday at 7 pm and, if needed, Sunday at 9 am.

The semi-final, between the second and third place finishers from the round robin goes Sunday at 2 pm, with the winner taking on the first place team at 7 pm.

Admission to watch the PEI Scotties is $5 per game or $25 for a full event pass.

The winning rink will advance to the national Scotties in Kingston Ont., Feb. 16-24.

End by end results are available at peicurling.com/scotties

Semi-finals set at PEI Masters-winners take on MacKay and Bernard in finals

Posted on by January 24, 2013

Just the Men’s and Women’s semi-finals at 9 am Friday, and the noon finals remain at the Curl PEI Provincial Masters Curling Championships, for curlers age 60 and over, being played at the Cornwall Curling Club.

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Photo: Women’s semi-finalists Sweetapple and Berry

The women’s semi-final will see Carol Sweetapple and her host club rink, who finished round robin play in second place with a 3-2 win-loss record, take on defending champion Shirley Berry and her combined Cornwall/Silver Fox Curling & Yacht Club rink. Berry finished in a three-way tie for third place at 2-3 with Montague’s Sherren MacKinnon and Cornwall’s Ruth Stavert teams, necessitating a pair of tiebreakers. Berry stole a deuce in the final end to edge MacKinnon 5-4 in the first, and scored one with hammer in the eighth end to get by Stavert by a 5-4 score in the second tiebreaker. The winner of tomorrow morning’s semi will face undefeated Diane MacKay (5-0) and her Charlottetown/Cornwall rink in the noon final.

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Photo: Bill Hope

In the men’s semi-final, Bob Maynard, who qualified second out of the triple knockout round, after defending champion and Silver Fox clubmate Mel Bernard, and then lost 8-0 to Bernard in the Page 1 vs 2 game this afternoon, will face Bill Hope and is his combined Cornwall/Silver Fox foursome. Hope won the Page 3 vs 4 game 7-3 over Paul Arsenault and his Cornwall team, helped out by a steal of four in the fifth end. The winner of the 9 am semi will take on Page 1 vs 2 winner Mel Bernard in the championship game.

Ten men’s and six women’s teams began play Monday. Men’s and women’s winners and runners-up earn the right to compete in the Maritime Masters Championships, March 7-10 at the Capital Winter Club, in Fredericton NB. The winning teams, or the highest-finishing men’s and women’s rinks that choose to attend, are invited to participate in the Canadian Masters, April 8-14 at the Port Arthur Curling Club in Thunder Bay Ontario.

End by end results are available at peicurling.com/masters

 

Jackson, O’Rourke open Scotties with victories (Guardian)

Posted on by January 24, 2013

Lisa Jackson scored an extra-end 7-6 victory Thursday afternoon to open the P.E.I. Scotties Tournament of Hearts provincial women’s curling championship.

Guardian photo

Kim Dolan holds the broom as Kathy O’Rourke looks on Thursday at the P.E.I. Scotties Tournament of Hearts provincial women’s curling championship at the Charlottetown Curling Club.

In the other game of the afternoon, Kathy O’Rourke scored singles in the ninth and 10th ends to beat defending champion Kim Dolan rink 7-4 in an all-Charlottetown club contest.

Click for full story in The Guardian.

After losing semifinal to Nedohin last year, Crystal Webster says rink is improved heading into Lethbridge provincials (Calgary Sun)

Posted on by January 24, 2013

By ,Edmonton Sun

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Crystal Webster says her team has had an up and down season but is constantly improving. (Amber Bracken, Edmonton Sun)
EDMONTON – Crystal Webster is seeded No. 2 at the Alberta Scotties and she promises to try harder.

It took the Calgary skip little time to shake off her hearbreaking semifinal loss to Heather Nedohin at the 2012 event in Leduc. Webster appeared to have a spot in the final locked up before giving up steals in the 10th and extra ends.

Nedohin went on to win the province and will be wearing Team Canada colours at the Scotties next month.

Meanwhile, Webster wasted little time wondering what could have been.

Her team finished off the year with a late kick and were the second team to qualify for this provincial as Alberta’s CTRS leader when the Tour season ended last April.

What the bye did was allow the team to avoid the playdowns grind.

It also gave them a chance to play in a spiel at Bern, Switzerland two weekends ago.

That was a good enough tune-up for a skip who’s been knocking at the door for so many years but who’s still looking for her first Alberta title.

Webster went to the 2011 Scotties as fifth for Shannon Kleibrink and it was there that she learned P.E.I. third Geri-Lynn Ramsay and skip Erin Carmody were planning to move to Calgary.With changes pending on her own team, Webster convinced the pair to join forces with her.

“We’re strides ahead of where we were last year,” said Webster, who’s never been seeded as high as No. 2.

Carmody rose to prominence at the 2010 Scotties, where she skipped P.E.I. to a first-place finish before the team lost the final to Jennifer Jones.

Despite the loss, Carmody received the Sandra Schmirler Award as the Scotties MVP.

“You feel a little more comfortable the second time around,” said Carmody, who calls Summerside, P.E.I. home. “You know what to expect from the teams.”

Click for full story

Ready to rock – Dolan rink set to defend Scotties provincial women’s title starting today (Guardian)

Posted on by January 24, 2013

(by Jason Molloy)

Pressure, what pressure?

Kim Dolan isn’t feeling any as she and her teammates prepare to defend their P.E.I. Scotties Tournament of Hearts provincial women’s curling championship, which begins today at the Charlottetown Curling Complex.

P.E.I. skip Kim Dolan gives the thumbs up at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Red Deer, Alta. Canadian Press photo

P.E.I. skip Kim Dolan gives the thumbs up at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Red Deer, Alta.

“There is always the fact that you are the defending champion, people certainly do want to beat you,” said Dolan, the nine-time provincial champion, including six as a skip. “I’ve been through so many, I don’t feel any (pressure) and I don’t think my team does either.”

The team includes third Rebecca Jean MacDonald, second Sinead Dolan (Kim’s daughter), lead Michala Robison and coach John Likely. They have been together for three years while Kim Dolan and MacDonald have played together for all but a couple of years since 1995. Robison, an alternate last year, replaces Nancy Cameron, who is not competing this year.

The field also includes teams skipped by Suzanne Birt, Kathy O’Rourke, Lisa Jackson and Tammy Dewar.

Dolan said she doesn’t consider her rink the favourite heading into today’s opening games of the five-team tournament.

Click for full story in today’s Guardian.