The PEI Credit Unions Provincial Senior Men’s and Senior Women’s Curling Championships, for curlers age 50 and over, got underway Friday at the Maple Leaf Curling Club in O’Leary, with six men’s and four women’s teams competing in the modified triple knockout event. The Kim Dolan rink from Charlottetown won the first of the three qualifying games, the A final.  for the women’s championship round this evening, shutting out the Kathy Clarey foursome from Montague  8-0 in only four ends. Dolan now drops down to compete in the B final at 2 pm Saturday, against the winner of a 10 am game between Clarey and Charlottetown’s Shelley Ebbett. The 3rd women’s qualifier goes Sunday at 3 pm.

The first men’s qualifier goes Saturday at 10 am, with defending men’s champ Rod MacDonald and his Silver Fox and Charlottetown team taking on Charlottetown’s Blair Weeks squad. MacDonald advanced by virtue of a lopsided 10-1 decision over Daryl MacDonald and his Western and Maple Leaf team, that included a steal of 5 points in the 2nd end. Weeks got by Clair Sweet of the host Maple Leaf club by a 5-4 score.

The winners of the three qualifiers in both sections advance to their respective two game Monday championship round. If  team wins all three sections, the Monday games won’t be needed. A double section winner will play in both championship games, and win the title if they take either, while their opponent would have to win both.

The eventual winning teams will advance to the 2016 Everest Canadian Senior Curling Championships, March 28-April 2, 2016 in Digby, NS.