The team of Calvin Smith and Lauren Ferguson from the Crapaud Community Curling Club are the winners of the modified triple knockout “B” section in the PEI championship for the new Olympic sport of Mixed Doubles, being held at the Charlottetown Curling Complex, beating the host club team of Louise Carota and Phillip McInnis 10-4 this afternoon. The rink of Sydney Howatt and Nick Johnston from Cornwall won the “A” section on Friday.
Smith/Ferguson advanced to the B final with a 6-4 win over Howatt/Johnston this morning. while Carota/McInnis advanced by shading the Annika and Liam Kelly siblings from Charlottetown and Cornwall 7-6. Kelly lost 8-4 to another sister and brother team – Rachel and Noah O’Connor, from Cornwall. The Kellys, the Amanda Holm/BradyThomson rink from the host club, and the Colin MacKenzie/Meghan Sherren rink from Cornwall, who lost 9-8 this afternoon in a comeback win by Howatt/Johnston, who scored 5 points in the last two ends, are now out of the competition, along with Crapaud’s Nick Blanchard/Alexis Burris rink, who lost to MacKenzie/Sherren 9-7 in this morning’s draw.
The four remaining teams now square off in the “C” semi-finals at 4 pm, with Howatt/Johnston playing Carota/McInnis, and the O’Connors facing Smith and Ferguson. The winners play in the “C” final, Sunday at 9:30 am.
The winners of all three section finals advance to the 2-game championship round on Sunday at 12:45 and 4 pm. If either Howatt/Johnston or Smith/Ferguson were to win the “C” final, they would have a “double life” in the championship round, winning the title if they took either game, while their opponent would have to win both.
The event champions advance to the 2018 Canadian Mixed Doubles Curling Championship from March 29 to April 1 in Leduc Alberta.