The “B” event finals of the PEI Tankard provincial men’s and Scotties Tournament of Hearts provincial women’s curling championships are set for 9 am Saturday at the Cornwall Curling Club.
TANKARD
The Tankard “B” final will see the defending champion, Charlottetown’s Eddie MacKenzie, the winner of Friday afternoon’s “A” final, take on Cornwall and Charlottetown’s John Likely, who beat Charlottetown’s Phil Gorveatt 10-3 in just six ends in the B semi-final Friday evening, with Likely scoring a pair of threes and a four-ender in the match.
John Likely directs as Robbie Doherty sweeps a rock into the house
Other members of the Likely rink are third Robert Campbell, second Matthew Nabuurs, lead Robbie Doherty, and alternate Mark O’Rourke, while Josh Barry, Chris Gallant, and Sean Ledgerwood round out Team MacKenzie.
Charlottetown’s Tyler Harris team staved off elimination in their “loser out” “C” division game against Alan Inman and his Crapaud squad, by an 8-3 score, and face Gorveatt on Saturday morning. The winner plays the loser of the “B” final at 2 pm, with the “C” final following at 7 pm.
SCOTTIES
The defending champion Robyn MacPhee rink from Charlottetown won the Scotties B semi-final Friday evening, beating Cornwall’s Veronica Smith team 5-3, and will face “A” final winner Lauren Lenentine of Cornwall in the “B” final at 9 am Saturday.
Robyn MacPhee watches as Meaghan Hughes (left) and Sarah Fullerton sweep a rock into the house
Playing with MacPhee are Sarah Fullerton, Meaghan Hughes and Michelle McQuaid, while Kristie Rogers, Breanne Burgoyne and Rachel O’Connor are the other members of the Lauren Lenentine team.
The other 7 pm game saw Lisa Jackson and her Charlottetown team eliminate Tammy Dewar and her Montague foursome from further play, winning 10-7. Jackson now faces Smith in the must-win “C” event Saturday morning at 9. The winner plays the loser of the B final at 2 pm. The C final goes at 7 pm Saturday.
With the modified triple knockout format, the winning team from each section also gets to compete in the next section. If a team wins all three sections, they will win the event without a championship round. If a team wins two sections, they will advance to a championship game against the winner of the other section and will take the championship if they win the game. If the other team wins, there will be a second championship game, with the winner of that game going to the nationals. If there are three separate section winners, the team that played in the most section finals will earn a bye to the second championship game where they will face the winner of a game between the other two finalists.
The PEI Scotties winning team advances to the national Scotties Tournament of Hearts, January 27 to February 4 in Penticton BC, while the Tankard winner will play in the Tim Hortons Brier, March 3-11 in Regina SK.