The duo of Sydney Howatt and Nick Johnston from the Cornwall Curling Club downed the Louise Carota and Phillip McInnis team from the host Charlottetown Curling Complex by a 10-1 score in five ends on Saturday evening to capture the “A” section and a berth in the championship round of the PEI Mixed Doubles Ch’ships’s modified triple knockout draw, scoring two singles, a stolen four-ender, and another four-ender en route to the win.

Photo (L-R): Sydney Howatt and Nick Johnston

Howatt also skips one of the two recently-chosen 2019 Canada Games girl’s training teams, while Johnston is third stone on one of the two boy’s teams. Howatt/Johnston beat their Canada Games training teammates Colin MacKenzie and Meghan Sherren 7-3 in their opener, while Carota/McInnis downed Crapaud’s Amanda Holm and Brady Thomson 10-3 in theirs. Howatt/Johnson then beat siblings Annika and Liam Kelly from Charlottetown and Cornwall 13-1 in six ends in game two, while Carota and McInnis beat the Crapaud duo of Calvin Smith and Lauren Ferguson 10-8. Liam Kelly is also on Johnston’s Canada Games training team, while Ferguson skips the other girl’s training team.

Both the Howatt/Johnston and Carota/McInnis rinks now drop down to compete in the “B” pool semi-finals at 9:30 am Saturday, against Smith/Ferguson and the Kellys, respectively, with the winners advancing to the 12:45 pm “B” pool final. If a team wins two sections, they will have a “double life” in the championship round. If Howatt/Johnston were to win all three sections, a championship round would not be required. The “C” pool finals are at 9:30 Sunday morning, with the championship round games scheduled for 12:45 and 4 pm Sunday.

Eight teams began play this morning in this provincial championship for the Olympic sport of Mixed Doubles, for 2-person teams of one male and one female, with the winning team advancing to the 2018 Canadian Mixed Doubles Curling Championship from March 29 to April 1 in Leduc Alberta.