It’s down to the championship round for the Tankard Men’s Provincial Curling Championship, and the Scotties Tournament of Hearts Provincial Women’s championship, and to the final draw in the three-game partial round robin for the Future Scotties/Tankard under 21 developmental event, all happening today at the six sheet Silver Fox Curling and Yacht Community Complex in Summerside. The three events are all happening at the same time and venue as part of a pilot to increase interest in the Olympic sport of curling.
The Phil Gorveatt men’s team and the Robyn MacPhee women’s rink can wrap up their respective championships with a win in the 10 am draw, as they won two of the three sections in the modified triple knockout draw, giving them a “double life” in the championship round. Their opponents, the Eddie MacKenzie men’s rink, and the Veronica Smith women’s foursome have to win their first game to force a winner-take-all final at 3:30. All four teams are from the Charlottetown Curling Complex.
The Future Scotties/Tankard is a combined event, with six junior girls and two junior boys teams taking part. Although the emphasis is on the Scotties and Tankard experience rather than the results, the Cruz Pineau boys team from the host club, and the Lauren Ferguson girls team from the Cornwall Curling Club are both undefeated going into their third game. These teams don’t play each other in the event – Ferguson is taking on clubmate Rachel MacLean (1-1), while Pineau faces Charlottetown’s Katie Shaw, also at 1-1.
Phil Gorveatt calls to his sweepers Mike Dillon and Mark Butler in Tankard action on Saturday (Emily Gray photo)
Eddie MacKenzie rink (Emily Gray photo)
In Tankard action on Saturday, Gorveatt advanced to the C final with a 7-2 win over Tyler Harris and his combined Charlottetown/Western Community Curling Club team in the C semi-final, and then edged Robert Campbell and his squad from Charlottetown and the Silver Fox by a 9-8 score in an exciting C final, taking a tying deuce in the tenth end and stealing a single in the extra. Gorveatt also won the B section, while clubmate Eddie MacKenzie took the “A”. Campbell eliminated the host club’s Blair Jay foursome with an 8-6 win to advance to the C final.
Veronica Smith (Emily Gray photo)
Robyn MacPhee (Emily Gray photo)
The Robyn MacPhee rink could have wrapped up the Scotties with a win in the “C” final on Saturday night, as taking all three modified triple-knockout sections would have given them the title without having the play the Sunday championship round. However, the Veronica Smith team didn’t let that happen, beating their Charlottetown clubmates the Lisa Jackson team, 6-4 in the “C” semi, and then stealing a deuce in the 9th end in an 8-4 win over MacPhee in the “C” final.
Eight teams – four from the Charlottetown Curling Complex (skips Phil Gorveatt, Eddie MacKenzie, Jamie Newson, and Dennis Watts), two from the host Silver Fox Curling and Yacht Community Complex (skipped by Blair Jay and Calvin Smith), a combined Charlottetown/Silver Fox rink skipped by Robert Campbell, and a Tyler Harris-skipped combined rink from Charlottetown and the Western Community Curling Club in Alberton, took part in the PEI Tankard, with the winning team advancing to the Tim Hortons Brier, March 4-12, 2017 at Mile One Centre in St. John’s, NL.
Four teams – the Tammy Dewar-skipped foursome from the Montague Curling Rink, plus three Charlottetown Curling Complex teams, captained by Lisa Jackson, Robyn MacPhee, and Veronica Smith, were entered in the Scotties, with the winning rink advancing to the national Scotties Tournament of Hearts, February 18-26 at Meridian Centre, St. Catharines, Ont.