O’Rourke goes unbeaten in round robin to clinch berth in PEI Scotties final. Defending champ Birt out of playoff contention

Posted on by January 10, 2014

There’s now only one undefeated team at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts Provincial Women’s Curling Championship following tonight’s round robin play at the Charlottetown Curling Complex. The Kathy O’Rourke rink from the host club handed the Shirley Berry foursome from the Cornwall and  Silver Fox clubs their first loss tonight, by an 8-3 score in 8 ends. O’Rourke improves to 4-0, while Berry goes to 2-1. O’Rourke scored four deuces, including a steal, in the game, while Berry scored singles only.

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Photo: Kathy O’Rourke

O’Rourke, whose team includes Robyn Green, who throws fourth stones, along with Meaghan Hughes, who throws third, lead Tricia Affleck, and alternate Stefanie Clark, along with coach Peter MacDonald, has now finished round robin play, while the other four teams have one round robin draw left, at 2 pm Saturday. The 4-0 finish means that O’Rourke will advance to the Sunday final, where she’ll take on the winner of the semi-final, between the second and third place teams from the round robin.

Defending champion Suzanne Birt is still looking for her first win following a 9-7 loss tonight to Charlottetown clubmate Lisa Jackson. Jackson improves to 1-2, tied with Kim Dolan, who had the evening bye, while Birt is at 0-3. Birt and Jackson were tied at 1 after three ends, when Jackson scored a triple, The teams traded deuces and Birt narrowed the gap to 1 with another pair in end 7. Jackson took a single in 8, with Birt tying the game with a deuce in nine, before Jackson recorded a deuce in the final end for the win.

The final round robin draw will see Berry (2-1) take on Birt (0-3), and Dolan play Jackson (both 1-2). Win or lose, Berry will be assured a playoff spot, along with the winner of the Dolan/Jackson game. A Birt win tomorrow would put her at 1-3, tied with the loser of the Dolan/Jackson match — not good enough to advance to a tiebreaker.The winning  team from Sunday’s final advances to the national Scotties Tournament of Hearts, February 1-9 at the Maurice Richard Arena, Montreal, QC.End by end results are available at PEICurling.com/scotties

 

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