There are no undefeated teams left in the 15 team, two pool Open (any combination of men/women) division of the Ferguson Funeral Homes/Curl PEI Provincial Stick Curling Championships, which wrap up on Thursday at the Charlottetown Curling Complex. Four teams, skipped by Canadian champion Roddie MacLean from the Cornwall Curliing Club, Bill Glydon from the Western Community Curling Club in Alberton, Bob Leard from Montaue, and Vince Fisher from Cornwall all have only one loss. Defending champion Walter Callaghan from the Western club is 4-3
In the seven team Women’s division, four team, skipped by Elaine Hughes, Shirley Lank, and four-time defending champion Ruth Stavert, all of Cornwall, and Leah Harris from the Maple Leaf Curling Club in O;Leary are all at 3, while Cornwall’s Joan Doiron and Myrna Craswell are 3-3.
The semi-finals go at 2:30 pm Saturday, while the finals are at 4 pm.
Current Standings:
Pool A Roddie MacLean 5-1, Bob Leard 5-1, Bill Glydon 5-1, Walter Callaghan 4-3, Merrill Cronin 2-4, Bazil Higginbotham 2-4, Fidele Richard 1-5, Alvin Hackett 1-5.
Pool B Vince Fisher 4-1, Sherrill Barwise 4-2, Winston Keough 4-2, Bryan Sutherland 3-3, Sterling Stratton 2-3, Vern Chowan 2-3, Floyd Stewart 0-5.
Pool C Elaine Hughes 3-2, Leah Harris 3-2, Ruth Stavert 3-2, Shirley Lank 3-2, Joan Doiron 3-3, Myrna Craswell 3-3, Ruth Walsh 1-5.
The top four open division teams, and the top two women’s rinks from this year’s event earn the right to compete in the Maritime Stick Curling Championships, March 18-20 at the Gage Curling Club in Oromocto NB. The Ruth Stavert/Gloria Clarke duo are the two-time defending Maritime Women’s champs, while the Paul Doucet and Dave MacDougal twosome from Yarmouth NS are the defending Open champs.The top two Open division teams also earn the right to compete in the 2014 Canadian Open Stick Curling Championship, March 30-April 2 at the St. Albert Curling Club in St. Albert Alberta. This is an “open” event, but reserves entries for the top two teams from each of BC, Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and PEI. Defending Canadian champions are the team of Roddie MacLean and Paul Field from the Cornwall Curling Club, the hosts of last year’s event. MacLean/Field were last year’s provincial runners-up, losing to Callaghan/Vincent after two extra ends of play. A Women’s division was added to last year’s event, with Cornwall’s Ruth Stavert and Eileen Blanchard winning.
In stick curling there are two curlers per team, who deliver their rocks with delivery sticks, with each team member delivering from opposite ends. Sweeping is allowed only from the hog line to the back of the house at the playing end. Two curlers, one from each team, alternately deliver 6 stones each per end, while their teammate skips that end. The roles are then reversed, and the partners deliver the stones back. No stone may be removed from play until the fourth stone of each end. Games are six ends and take about an hour to play. For more information on stick curling, including complete rules of play, visit www.stickcurling.ca.