Newson and Weeks advance to money round at Jim Sullivan Curling Classic

Two out of the three PEI teams entered in this weekend’s second annual Jim Sullivan Curling Classic Atlantic Curling Tour cashspiel in Saint John have made it to the quarter-final round, Sunday at 9 am.  PEI’s Jamie Newson foursome will play New Brunswick’s Terry Odishaw rink, while the Blair Weeks rink will take on the New Brunswick rink skipped by Marc Lecocq. The other quarter-final matchups see James Grattan face Zach Eldridge, and Paul Dobson battle David Sullivan. This is an 18 team triple-knockout event, with eight end games.

The Jamie Newson rink, which includes Andrew Robinson, Sean Clarey and John Desrosiers, have a 3-0 win-loss record, notching wins against Grattan, Odishaw and Eldridge. The Blair Weeks team includes Robert Shaw, Matt Nabuurs, and Connor MacPhee, and sits at 3-1, losing their opener to Rene Comeau, but rebounding with three straight wins, against Peter Burgess, Jason Vaughn, and winning their B qualifier against the other PEI team in the cashspiel, skipped by Rod MacDonald. The MacDonald team just missed their second chance at the playoffs, finishing with a 3-3 record, after losing their “C” qualifier to Eldridge, who stole the last end to win by a 5-4 score. Other members of the MacDonald foursome are Kevin Champion, Mark O’Rourke, and Mark Victor.

The semi-finals go Sunday at noon, with the final at 3 pm.

Website: www.jimsullivanchamp.com/2013/

The winning rink will go home with $3,750, with $2,500 going to the runner-up. The third and fourth place teams will each receive $1,250, while the remaining quarter-finalist rinks will pocket $900 each.