Newson needs three consecutive wins over defending champion to claim crown
Jamie Newson (Photo Credit Valerie Sevilla)
SUMMERSIDE – Defending champion Tyler Smith of Crapaud Curling Club can clinch his third consecutive P.E.I.Tankard men’s curling championship with a win tonight over clubmate Jamie Newson.
The draw is set for 7 p.m. at the Silver Fox Entertainment Complex. Newson faces the uphill task of needing to beat Smith in three straight games to claim the Tankard title.
In today’s 2 p.m. draw, Smith scored two with hammer in the first end, and stole deuces in the second and third as he cruised to a 9-1 win over Darren Higgins of Summerside, eliminating last year’s finalist from the modified triple knockout competition.
Smith, who had earlier won the A and B finals, claimed the C semifinal when Higgins shook hands in the 7th end.
Also at 2 p.m., Newson jumped into a 7-2 lead by the 5th end break, survived a Tyler Harris triple in the 6th and scored singles in the 9th and 10th for an 11-7 victory over his clubmate in the other C semifinal which featured teams with two losses each.
Newson needs a win tonight to stave off elimination and would have to beat Smith twice more Sunday at 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. to claim the Tankard title.
Smith started off the day by downing Harris 7-4 in the 9 a.m. draw, to hand Harris his second loss in the seven-team men’s event.
Harris scored a single in the first end and stole the 2nd to lead 2-0 but Smith scored three in the third and stole a pair in the fifth to lead 5-2 at the break. Smith then stole singles in the 7th and 8th to take control.
Also at 9 a.m., Higgins defeated Crapaud’s Steve vanOuwerkerk 9-6 to stay alive and knock his opponent out of contention.
The other men’s action at 9 am saw Newson eliminate Blair Jay of Summerside 9-3.
Schedule, teams, draw and results can be found here: https://peicurling.com/results/#/events/17914.