Cornwall Curling Club

The Kim Dolan rink from the host Charlottetown Curling Complex doubled the Shirley Berry foursome from the Cornwall and Silver Fox curling clubs by an 8-4 score in tonight’s semi-final to advance to the 2 pm Sunday final against unbeaten Kathy O’Rourke, also from the host club, at the PEI Scotties Tournament of Hearts Provincial Women’s Curling Championship.

Kim Dolan

In tonight’s game, Dolan, who led 4-3 after five ends, blanked the sixth and scored a triple in the seventh to lead 7-3. Berry, a former Seniors champ, and Dolan traded singles in eight and nine, and Berry was unable to recover from the 4 point lead.

Dolan was runner-up last year and has 9 provincial women’s championships to her credit, while O’Rourke is a six-time winner, and was Canadian Scotties semi-finalist in 2010. Other members of the Dolan rink are third Rebecca Jean MacDonald, second Sinead Dolan , and lead Michala Robison, with alternate Jackie Reid  and coach John Likely.

Kathy O’Rourke

O’Rourke’s team includes Robyn Green, who throws 4th stones,  Meaghan Hughes, who throws third, and lead Tricia Affleck,, with alternate Stefanie Clark and coach  Peter MacDonald. Dolan and Berry advanced to the semi after finishing round robin play earlier today with 2-2 records, while Lisa Jackson and last year’s champion Suzanne Birt went 1-3.

The winner of Sunday afternoon’s final will advance to the national Scotties Tournament of Hearts, February 1-9 at the Maurice Richard Arena, Montreal, QC.

Cornwall teams are off to a great start at both the Scotties and the Future Scotties events in Charlottetown, with Shirley Berry going 2-0 yesterday at the Scotties, and Meghan Ching and Emily Keen both winning their games in this morning’s Future Scotties opening draw.

Meghan Ching rink

Ching scored four points in the fourth end in her game against Charlottetown’s Lauren Moerike, and followed with a stolen deuce and triple. The game ended early with an 11-2 final score.

Keen’s game was closer, 5-3 over Kaleigh MacKay and her Montague/Crapaud team, stealing a single in the fourth, and not having to throw her final rock in the eighth end.

Click to view photos from the opening Future Scotties draw.

The Junior curlers play two more games, Saturday and Sunday morning at 10.

Shirley Berry has the afternoon off in the Scotties, with Kathy O’Rourke taking on Lisa Jackson, and Kim Dolan taking on defending champ Suzanne Birt.

Berry faces the other 2-0 team, O’Rourke at 7 pm, with Birt vs. Jackson in the other match.

End-by-end results from both events are available at PEICurling.com/scotties

It was an exciting start to the PEI Scotties Tournament of Hearts Provincial Women’s Curling Championships at the Charlottetown Curling Complex, with both opening draw round-robin games going to an extra end.

The Shirley Berry rink from Cornwall and the Silver Fox are former Senior Women’s champions, and had to sub in Karen Currie at the last minute, when their regular lead, Arleen Harris, was delayed in Calgary due to weather conditions. They picked up a 7-6 extra-end win over last year’s provincial Scotties runners-up, the Kim Dolan foursome, stealing singles in the second and ninth ends. Dolan scored a triple in the 7th end for a 5-4 lead in the game, but Berry took singles in the next two ends to pull ahead, with Dolan forcing the extra with a single in ten, giving Berry the last rock advantage coming home where she scored a single for the win.

Photo (L-R): Shirley Berry, Shelley Ebbett, Karen Currie

Kathy O’Rourke was trailing 2-1 after five ends in her game against defending champion Suzanne Birt, but scored a triple in the sixth and stole a single in the seventh end to lead 5-2. Birt came back with a deuce in eight, while O’Rourke was kept to a single in nine and Birt tied it was a tenth end deuce. O’Rourke scored a deuce in the extra end to pull out an 8-6 win.

Photo (L-R): Kathy O’Rourke, Shelly Bradley, Suzanne Birt

The opening ceremonies go at 6:15 pm, with Draw 2, featuring a matchup between last years winner, Birt, and runner-up, Dolan, as well as the Berry rink taking on the Lisa Jackson foursome beginning at 7 pm. Admission is $5 per draw or $25 for a full event pass. All rinks in the event, except for the Berry team, curl out of the host Charlottetown Curling Complex.

Live end-by-end results from each draw are available on the event website: PEICurling.com/scotties

The Scotties Tournament of Hearts provincial women’s curling championship gets underway today at the Charlottetown Curling Complex, with draws at 2 and 7 pm. Cornwall is represented by the Shirley Berry rink. The inaugural Future Scotties, featuring Junior curlers who may one day compete in the Scotties, goes Friday, Saturday and Sunday morning at 10. The Meghan Ching and Emily Keen teams from Cornwall are among the entrants.

Come on out and watch PEI’s best women curlers compete! Admission to the Scotties is $5 per draw, or $25 for a full event pass. There is no admission charge to see the Future Scotties draws.

Full schedule, team rosters, and end-by-end results at PEICurling.com/scotties

The Shirley Berry team, from the Cornwall and Silver Fox curling clubs, has replaced Arleen Harris with Karen Currie for the PEI Scotties, which starts Thursday at the Charlottetown Curling Complex.

Best of luck to the Berry rink!

Event site: PEICurling.com/scotties

(UPEI) UPEI Athletics and Recreation have announced that the Women’s Curling Team; skipped by Veronica Smith, and Brian Ofori, Men’s Basketball, are the UPEI Panther Athletes of the Week for the week of December 30 – January 5. UPEI Athletics and Recreation showcases these talented athletes to recognize their hard work and dedication to their respective sports throughout the season. UPEI Athletes of the Week are also nominated to Atlantic University Sport and Canadian Interuniversity Sport for possible recognition in the region and/or country.

Photo (L-R): Veronica Smith, Jane DiCarlo, Emily Gray, Aleya Quilty

The UPEI women’s curling team won the “B” pool final at the Atlantic University Curling Championships hosted by UNB on January 3–5. The Veronica Smith-skipped team earned the right to represent the Atlantic region at the CIS University Curling Championship in Regina, Saskatchewan on March 19–23. In the championship game, UPEI took two in the 9th and then stole one in the 10th for the win. The team finished with a 3–1 record. Team members include business student and skip Veronica Smith of Breadalbane; science student and third Jane DiCarlo of Charlottetown; science student and second Emily Gray of O’Leary, and science student and lead Aleya Quilty of Charlottetown. All members are enrolled in their second year of study at UPEI.

Brian Ofori, a second-year arts student from Montreal, Quebec, was selected as an All-Star at the Rod Shoveller Memorial Basketball Tournament. The Panthers placed second with two wins and one loss, where Ofori averaged 11 points and six rebounds over the three games, and was a very physical and defensive presence. Ofori was previously selected as a UPEI Athlete of the Week for the week of October 7–13.

The Women’s Curling Team and Ofori will be recognized at this week’s UPEI Athletes of the Week Celebration on Thursday, January 9 at 12:45 pm in the W.A. Murphy Student Centre’s McMillan Hall. All are welcome.

The UPEI Men’s Panthers, skipped by Kyle Holland, lost their opener 9-4 to the 2011 Canadian university champions, the Colin Thomas rink from St. John’s Memorial University of Newfoundland Friday evening, but rebounded with a  7-3 win over the St. FX team skipped by David Quinn on Saturday, to advance to the 9 am Sunday “B” semi-final against UNB, skipped by Josh Barry, at the Atlantic University Curling Championships being played at the Capital Winter Club in Fredericton NB. The winner of this morning’s game will face the Saint Mary’s University team, skipped by Scott Babin, in the B final at 2 pm. The MUN team edged SMU 7-6 in an extra end to win the A final Saturday night. The winners of the A and B finals both advance to the CIS/CCA championships, March 19-23 at Regina’s Callie Curling Club, with the University of Regina as host.

Photo by UPEI Women’s team: UPEI Men’s team in action at the Atlantic Univ. Ch’ships

Other members of the UPEI team are third Connor MacPhee, Second Andrew Cameron, Lead Taylor McInnis, with Coach Eric Pidgeon.

Photo: UPEI Women’s Panthers

Meanwhile, the Veronica Smith-skipped UPEI Women’s Panthers lost a close 4-2 decision to the Saint Mary’s team, skipped by Sara Spafford, in their low-scoring opening game on Friday, which the UPEI team described as “a nail-biter ’til the last rock”. UPEI was scheduled to against the loser of a game between UNB and DAL Saturday, but DAL withdrew from the tournament, and the Panthers were given a bye in that game, and now play at 9 am this morning against Acadia, skipped by Micayla Dorey, with the winner of that game advancing to the 2 pm “B” final, against Spafford’s SMU rink. UNB, skipped by Jennifer Armstrong, won the “A” final Saturday evening, stealing five points in the 9th end in an 11-4 victory over SMU.

The Panthers team includes third Jane DiCarlo, second Emily Gray, and lead Aleya Quilty, with coach Paul Smith. The team are members of the Cornwall Curling Club. The winners of the A and B finals both advance to the CIS/CCA championships, March 19-23 in Regina.

There were only six draws played in the first round of the Wednesday evening Ladder League, sponsored by Don Lowther Snow Removal (who have undoubtedly been very busy this year!) as two of the final three weeks were cancelled due to weather. All teams had a least one win, and there were no defaults, so it looks like we`ve got a dedicated group this season!

The Emily Keen rink won the A pool in the first round, with 4 wins, and two losses, the only team to pick up four wins in the pool. The Ray Biagé and Rick Doiron teams, both with only one win, and the Paul Durant foursome, with two wins, will move down the ladder to the B pool. The rest of the teams all had three wins, two losses and a bye, and are staying put.

The winner of the B pool was the Robert Thibodeau rink, who rattled off an impressive 5 wins, with one loss, and no bye. The Kim Glydon foursome with four wins and 2 losses, and the Greg Groves team, with four wins, a loss and a bye, will be joining the Thibodeau squad on the ladder up to the A pool.

The Keen and Thibodeau rinks will receive prizes at the end of the season, courtesy of our Round One sponsor.

Here are the pools for Round Two

A Pool

A1-Emily Keen, Kayla Schut, Jessica Watts, Jenny Mutch
A2-Bob MacWilliams, John Berry, Roy Coffin, TBA
A3-Bob Fowler, Carl Currie, Thane Thompson, Danny Young
A4-Hank Kamphuis, Gordon Peters, Gerald Dykerman, Pat MacInnis
A5-Karen Currie, Valerie Acorn, Mark Perry, Leonard Gotell
A6-Paul Neima, Dwayne McNeill, Joe Callaghan, Ankur Deshpande
A7-Robert Thibodeau, Angus Kennedy, Dave Hunt, Des Nantes
A8-Greg Groves, Donald Weeks, TBD, Marjorie Matthews
A9-Kim Glydon (Nicholson), Morgan Kirkham, Tracy MacDonald, Krista Affleck

B Pool

B1-Paul Durant, Jamie Ballem, Danny Kneabone, Alan Acorn
B2-Ray Biagé, TBD, Rebecca Rolfe, Derek MacEwen
B3-Rick Doiron, Derek Gallant, TBD, Ted VanLunen
B4-Joe MacKinnon, Frank Martin, Chris Hodgson, Mitch Freeman
B5-Donald DeWolfe, Avery Wells, Riley Taweel, Nick Johnson
B6-Kelly Watts, Cathy Handren, Paula Ling, Theresa Andrews
B7-Kelly-Lynn Younker, Chelsea Warren, David Younker, Anne Younker
B8-Jim Orr, John Dunsford, TBD, Joan Orr
B9-Lew Black, Coleen Neily, Todd Gallant,  Hans Anderegg

According to the calendar, we’ve got 13 weeks left in the season, so we’ll divide them into two rounds. Round Two will have seven weeks, and will go Jan. 8, 15, 22, and 29, and Feb. 5, 12, and 19. Round 3 will go Feb. 26, March 5, 12, 19 and 26, and April 2.

Here is the draw for Round Two, sponsored by Griffins Service Centre. The Emily Keen rink are attending the Scotties/Future Scotties banquet on Jan. 8, and have asked for the opening round bye, so they and Paul Durant in the same slot in the B pool will have the first week off. The A pool will have the early draw for week one, as the B pool had it last round.

Week One January 8

6:30 pm A Pool
Bye: A1-Emily Keen
Ice 1: A5-Karen Currie vs A6-Paul Neima,
Ice 2: A2-Bob MacWilliams vs A9-Kim Glydon
Ice 3: A4-Hank Kamphuis vs A7-Robert Thibodeau
Ice 4: A3-Bob Fowler vs A8-Greg Groves

8:30 pm B Pool
Bye: B1-Paul Durant
Ice 1: B5-Donald DeWolfe vs B6-Kelly Watts
Ice 2: B2-Ray Biagé vs B9-Lew Black
Ice 3: B4-Joe MacKinnon vs B7-Kelly-Lynn Younker
Ice 4: B3-Rick Doiron vs B8-Jim Orr

Week Two January 15

6:30 pm B Pool
Bye: B7-Kelly-Lynn Younker
Ice 1: B6-Kelly Watts vs B2-Ray Biagé
Ice 2: B5-Donald DeWolfe vs B3-Rick Doiron
Ice 3: B8-Jim Orr vs B9-Lew Black
Ice 4: B1-Paul Durant vs B4-Joe MacKinnon

8:30 pm A Pool
Bye: A7-Robert Thibodeau
Ice 1: A6-Paul Neima, vs A2-Bob MacWilliams
Ice 2: A5-Karen Currie vs A3-Bob Fowler
Ice 3: A8-Greg Groves vs A9-Kim Glydon
Ice 4: A1-Emily Keen vs A4-Hank Kamphuis

Week Three – January 22
6:30 pm A Pool
Bye: A9-Kim Glydon
Ice 1: A5-Karen Currie vs A1-Emily Keen
Ice 2: A8-Greg Groves vs A2-Bob MacWilliams
Ice 3: A7-Robert Thibodeau vs A3-Bob Fowler
Ice 4: A6-Paul Neima, vs A4-Hank Kamphuis

8:30 pm B Pool
Bye: B9-Lew Black
Ice 1: B5-Donald DeWolfe vs B1-Paul Durant
Ice 2: B8-Jim Orr vs B2-Ray Biagé
Ice 3: B7-Kelly-Lynn Younker vs B3-Rick Doiron
Ice 4: B6-Kelly Watts vs B4-Joe MacKinnon

Week Four – Jan 29
6:30 pm B Pool
Bye: B8-Jim Orr
Ice 1: B4-Joe MacKinnon vs B5-Donald DeWolfe
Ice 2: B3-Rick Doiron vs B6-Kelly Watts
Ice 3: B9-Lew Black vs B1-Paul Durant
Ice 4: B2-Ray Biagé vs B7-Kelly-Lynn Younker

8:30 pm A Pool
Bye: A8-Greg Groves
Ice 1: A4-Hank Kamphuis vs A5-Karen Currie
Ice 2: A3-Bob Fowler vs A6-Paul Neima,
Ice 3: A9-Kim Glydon vs A1-Emily Keen
Ice 4: A2-Bob MacWilliams vs A7-Robert Thibodeau

Week Five – Feb. 5
6:30 pm A Pool
Bye: A2-Bob MacWilliams
Ice 1: A7-Robert Thibodeau vs A5-Karen Currie
Ice 2: A1-Emily Keen vs A6-Paul Neima,
Ice 3: A9-Kim Glydon vs A3-Bob Fowler
Ice 4: A8-Greg Groves vs A4-Hank Kamphuis

8:30 pm B Pool
Bye: B2-Ray Biagé
Ice 1: B7-Kelly-Lynn Younker vs B5-Donald DeWolfe
Ice 2: B1-Paul Durant vs B6-Kelly Watts
Ice 3: B9-Lew Black vs B3-Rick Doiron
Ice 4: B8-Jim Orr vs B4-Joe MacKinnon

Week Six – Feb 12
6:30 pm B Pool
Bye: B6-Kelly Watts
Ice 1: B3-Rick Doiron vs B4-Joe MacKinnon
Ice 2: B2-Ray Biagé vs B5-Donald DeWolfe
Ice 3: B9-Lew Black  vs B7-Kelly-Lynn Younker
Ice 4: B1-Paul Durant vs B8-Jim Orr

8:30 pm A Pool
Bye: A6-Paul Neima
Ice 1: A3-Bob Fowler vs A4-Hank Kamphuis
Ice 2: A2-Bob MacWilliams vs A5-Karen Currie
Ice 3: A9-Kim Glydon   vs A7-Robert Thibodeau
Ice 4: A1-Emily Keen vs A8-Greg Groves

Week Seven – Feb. 19
6:30 pm A Pool
Bye: A4-Hank Kamphuis
Ice 1: A2-Bob MacWilliams vs A3-Bob Fowler
Ice 2: A9-Kim Glydon vs A5-Karen Currie
Ice 3: A7-Robert Thibodeau  vs A1-Emily Keen
Ice 4: A8-Greg Groves vs A6-Paul Neima,

8:30 pm B Pool
Bye: B4-Joe MacKinnon
Ice 1: B2-Ray Biagé vs B3-Rick Doiron
Ice 2: B9-Lew Black vs B5-Donald DeWolfe
Ice 3: B7-Kelly-Lynn Younker  vs B1-Paul Durant
Ice 4: B8-Jim Orr vs B6-Kelly Watts

The UPEI Men’s Panthers, skipped by Kyle Holland, lost their opener 9-4 to the 2011 Canadian university champions, the Colin Thomas rink from St. John’s Memorial University of Newfoundland Friday evening at the Atlantic University Curling Championships being played at the Capital Winter Club in Fredericton NB.  The teams were tied 2-all at half time, but a triple in the sixth gave the Newfoundland and Labrador squad the lead. Holland responded with a deuce, but Thomas scored another triple and stole a single for a 9-4 lead, and ran the Panthers out of rocks coming home. Other members of the UPEI team are third Connor MacPhee, Second Andrew Cameron, Lead Taylor McInnis, with Coach Eric Pidgeon. The UPEI team was pleased with their opening performance, saying that it was a good game, “with a couple of tough breaks.” They play next at 2 pm, against the loser of a 9 am game between St. FX, skipped by David Quinn, and UNB, captained by Josh Barry.

Photo: UPEI Women’s Panthers

Meanwhile, the Veronica Smith-skipped UPEI Women’s Panthers lost a close 4-2 decision to the Saint Mary’s team, skipped by Sara Spafford, in their low-scoring opening game, which the UPEI team described as “a nail-biter ’til the last rock”. The first two ends were blanked, with Smith, whose team, from the Cornwall Curling Club, includes third Jane DiCarlo, second Emily Gray, and lead Aleya Quilty, with coach Paul Smith, stealing a single in the third. Spafford responded with singles in the fourth, fifth,and seventh ends, with the teams trading singles in the ninth and tenth ends. UNB came from behind with a triple in the final frame in a 6-5 edging of Acadia in the other Friday evening contest. UPEI was scheduled to against the loser of a game between UNB and DAL today, but DAL have withdrawn from the tournament, and the Panthers were given a bye in that game, and now play at 9 am Sunday, with the winner of that game advancing to the 2 pm “B” championship.

Two men’s and two women’s teams advance from this event to the CIS/CCA championships, March 19-23 at Regina’s Callie Curling Club, with the University of Regina as host.The first teams to advance will be determined in the 7 pm Saturday draw, with the second teams selected in the 2 pm Sunday games.

The Curl PEI Fair Play and Asham Coaching awards were handed out following last night’s Pepsi Juniors finals at the Silver Fox Curling & Yacht Club in Summerside.

The Asham Coaching awards, as voted on by all the coaches at the event, are presented annual to a junior men’s and a junior women’s team coach, based on the following criteria:

– Demonstrating respect for officials, opponents, host committee and curling associations.
– Demonstrating a philosophy of fair play, good sportsmanship and attitudes that reflect the coaching code of ethics.
– Demonstrating concern for all-round development of the athlete and instilling guidelines reflecting responsible conduct beyond the curling rink.
– Presenting, through example, a positive image of coaching.
– Demonstrating ability to improve the athletic performance of a team or athlete.
– Demonstrating ability to apply athlete development and coaching techniques as outlined in the National Coaching Certification Program.

This year’s awards went to Butch McGee, coach of the Emily Keen women’s rink from Cornwall, and to Tammy Dewar, one of the coaches of the runner-up Tyler Smith men’s rink.

Butch McGee (file photo)

(L-R): Tammy Dewar, Curl PEI representative Rod MacDonald

The Curl PEI Fair Play awards, as voted on by all the teams at the event, are presented annually to a junior men’s and a junior women’s player who demonstrate sportsmanship and fair play both on and off the ice.

The Fair Play women’s award went to Silver Fox skip Jenny McLean, while the men’s award was presented to Brooks Roche, third on the Tyler Smith team from Montague.

(L-R): Brooks Roche, Curl PEI representative Rod MacDonald

(L-R): Curl PEI rep Rod MacDonald, Jenny McLean

It’ll be a return trip to the nationals for the Veronica Smith foursome, who beat their Cornwall clubmates the Amanda MacLean team by a 6-4 score in tonight’s Pepsi Provincial Junior Women’s final at the Silver Fox Curling and Yacht Club in Summerside. The Smith team took singles in the first two ends. MacLean blanked the next two, and was kept to a single in the fifth. Smith took 1 in the sixth, and the teams then traded deuces and then singles to bring the final score to 6-4 to Smith, whose team is unchanged from last year, and includes third stone Chloe McCloskey, second Sabrina Smith, and first stone Katie Fullerton. The team is coached by Bill Hope and Paul Smith. Playing with runner-up MacLean were third Jane DiCarlo, second Emily Gray, and lead Aleya Quilty, with coach Lori Robinson.

File photo: Smith rink at last year’s championship in Cornwall
(l-r) Chloe McCloskey, Sabrina Smith, Katie Fullerton, Veronica Smith

The Kyle Holland rink from the Charlottetown Curling Complex beat defending champion Tyler Smith and his Montague Curling Club team by an 8-5 score this evening to win the Pepsi Provincial Junior Men’s Championship. Team Holland includes Tony Nabuurs, who throws final stones, with Holland throwing third stones and calling the game, along with second Alex Sutherland, and lead Taylor McInnis. The team is coached by Angela Hodgson. Holland and McInnis were on last year’s runner-up rink, skipped by Chris Gallant, who is curling and attending school in Winnipeg this year. In tonight’s game, the Charlottetown team blanked the first two ends, took a triple in the third, and stole a deuce in the fourth end to take a 5-0 lead. Smith came back with a triple in five, which was followed by a Holland deuce and steal of 1. Smith took the next two ends to trail 8-5 coming home without hammer, and ran out of rocks in the final end. Other members of the runner-up Smith foursome are third Brooks Roche, second Dylan Lowery, and first stone Ryan Lowery, with coaches Tammy Dewar and Kevin Smith.

The Kyle Holland and Veronica Smith teams will advance to the M&M Meat Shops Canadian Juniors, January 18-26, 2014 in Liverpool NS. Holland and Smith are also skipping UPEI teams in the Atlantic University Curling Championships, January 3-5 at the Capital Winter Club in Fredericton, NB. In that event, Veronica Smith will be joined with DiCarlo, Gray and Quilty from the Amanda MacLean rink, while Holland’s team will include McInnis at lead, along with Connor MacPhee and Andrew Cameron.

Veronica Smith punched her ticket to tonight’s championship game on Sunday morning by handing MacLean her first loss in the event. As Smith was the only team to go through round robin play undefeated, she sewed up first place and the bye to the final. In the semi-final, the MacLean foursome edged their Cornwall clubmates, the Emily Keen team, 7-6 in an extra end to advance to the 7 pm final.

Holland captured the A event of the triple knockout portion of the junior men’s championship, and then won the Page A vs B game on Sunday night by an 8-0 score over Cornwall’s Matthew MacLean team to advance directly to tonight’s championship game, while Smith, who took the fourth and final qualifying spot for the Page round, beat Alex MacFadyen of Summerside 7-4 in the Page B vs C game, and MacLean 8-4 in the semi.

Eight junior men’s and seven junior women’s teams took part in this year’s event.

Curling is a great way to be active, socialize, and you can do it at any age! Maybe it is time to try something new for 2014. This 6-week learn to curl program is for beginners that want to learn the game of curling and have fun at the same time and is a great way to spend some quality time with family as well as yourself, and/or your son or daughter can be involved in the same class! Sundays, 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm at the Cornwall Curling Club. Jan. 12 – Feb. 16. This program is for all ages 12 and up as you can be involved with your children as well. $40 Per Person.

The men’s Page finals at 7 this evening, and the 2 pm Monday women’s semi-finals are now set at the Pepsi Provincial Junior Curling Championships being played at the Silver Fox Curling & Yacht Club in Summerside. The final two spots in the men’s Page round were determined this afternoon, with Alex MacFadyen beating Silver Fox clubmate Justin Campbell 12-4 to take the C qualifier. Campbell took singles in the first two ends, but MacFadyen fought back wth a deuce in the third, and then stole a total of seven points in the next four ends for a 9-2 lead. Campbell took two in eight, but MacFadyen scored a triple in the ninth to wrap up the game.

Defending champion Tyler Smith won the D qualifier when the Leslie Noye rink from the Western Community Curling Club in Alberton was unable to get to the venue due to weather conditions and had to forfeit their game against the Montague foursome. The winner of tonight’s Page A vs B match between Kyle Holland of Charlottetown and Matthew MacLean of Cornwall will advance directly to Monday’s 7 pm final, with the loser taking on the winner of the Page C vs D, between MacFadyen and Smith, in the 2 pm Monday semi-final, and the winner of the semi advancing to the final.

Holland qualified out of the A section of the triple knockout round on Saturday morning, with a 5-2 win over MacLean. On Sunday morning, MacLean took the B qualifier, defeating defending champion Tyler Smith and his Montague rink by an 8-1 score, stealing singles in the first two ends, and deuces in ends three and four to lead 6-0. Smith got on the board with a single in five, but two MacLean more singles in six and seven brought the game to an early conclusion.

Meanwhile, Cornwall’s Emily Keen rink took third place in the round robin, and the final spot in the women’s championship round this afternoon, with a a 9-7 win over Jenny McLean of the host club. The other team that was in contention for the spot was the Kaleigh MacKay rink from Crapaud and the Silver Fox. They needed a win, plus a Keen loss to advance, but lost their game 6-4 to Charlottetown’s Lauren Moerike team. The other game this afternoon, which didn’t affect the championship round, saw Cornwall’s Amanda MacLean, who secured second place this morning, beat clubmate Meghan Ching 10-4.

In this morning’s draw, the Veronica Smith rink from Cornwall got the opportunity to defend their Pepsi Juniors title, locking up first place and a bye to the 7 pm Monday final game, by being the only team to go through the round robin undefeated, after handing Cornwall’s MacLean team their first loss, by a 9-4 score, aided by a four point fifth end. As tiebreakers are not needed, the women will have the evening off, with MacLean taking on Keen in the semi-final Monday at 2 pm, and the winner facing defending champion Smith in the 7 pm final.
with the final at 7.

The final women’s round robin standings are as follows: Veronica Smith 6-0, Amanda MacLean 5-1, Emily Keen 4-2, Kaleigh MacKay and Lauren Moerike 2-4, and Jenny MacLean and Meghan Ching 1-5.

The men’s and women’s winners from Monday’s finals will advance to the M&M Meat Shops Canadian Juniors, January 18-26, 2014 in Liverpool NS.

Three draws have now been played at the conclusion of day two action at the Pepsi Provincial Junior curling championships, which wrap up on Monday at the Silver Fox Curling & Yacht Club in Summerside. Defending champion Veronica Smith remains undefeated with a 3-0 record in the round robin women’s section, while Cornwall clubmate Amanda MacLean, who had the evening draw off, is also unbeaten, at 2-0. Smith beat Jenny McLean from the host club 7-4 this evening, while Lauren Moerike from Charlottetown scored a triple in the final end in an 8-7 come-from-behind win over Cornwall’s Meghan Ching. The third women’s game saw Emily Keen of Cornwall beat Crapaud’s Kaleigh MacKay 8-5. MacKay and Moerike have 1-1 records, while Keen and Ching are 1-2, and McLean is 0-3. Smith plays Moerike, MacLean plays MacKay, and Keen takes on Ching in the next round robin draw, Saturday morning at 9.

Defending champion Tyler Smith and his Montague team had their first loss tonight, 9-5 over Charlottetown’s Kyle Holland rink. Holland and the other undefeated team, skipped by Cornwall’s Matthew MacLean, now face off in the “A” qualifier game of the triple knockout, Saturday at 9 am, with the winner of that game advancing to the Page championship round A vs B game. MacLean scored five points in the first end tonight on the way to an 11-3 win over Summerside’s Justin Campbell to advance to tomorrow’s qualifier. The 3rd men’s game tonight saw Alex MacFadyen from the host Silver Fox club beat Cornwall’s Devin Schut 9-3. Schut, and clubmate Donald DeWolfe both have two losses, and must win their remaining games to stay alive. Besides the A qualifier, the remaining teams in the B section face off at 9 am Saturday, with Campbell taking on clubmate MacFadyen, and Western’s Noye facing Smith.

Saturday’s second draw goes at 6 pm, with Sunday play at 9, 2 and 7. The semi-final round goes Monday at 2, with the finals at 7 pm. The winning men’s and women’s teams advance to the M&M Meat Shops Canadian Juniors, January 18-26, 2014 in Liverpool NS.

Live end-by-end results from the Pepsi Juniors at PEICurling,com/juniors

Ten teams, eight from the Charlottetown Curling Complex, including the defending champion Eddie MacKenzie rink, along with one team from the host Montague club, and one from Cornwall, will be participating in the Curl PEI 2014 Tankard provincial Men’s Curling Championship, from February 5-9 at the Montague Curling Rink. The teams will play a triple-knockout, qualifying four teams for a Page championship round, which will determine the winning team to advance to the Tim Hortons Brier, March 1-9 at the Interior Savings Centre in Kamloops, BC. Cornwall is represented by the Bill Hope rink. Former member Rob Young (who now lives in Orwell) is on the Montague team.

Event website: PEICurling.com/tankard

Here are the team rosters:

The PEI curling community was shocked and saddened to hear of the passing, as the result of a snowmobile accident on Wednesday, of Kevin Michael Gallant, 18, of Bloomfield Corner. Gallant was a former member of the Matthew MacLean junior men’s rink who curled out of the Maple Leaf Curling Club in O’Leary, and are currently curling with the Cornwall Curling Club and the Silver Fox Curling & Yacht Club  The MacLean team are determined to continue with this year’s provincial juniors championship, which starts this evening. Gallant was not on this year’s roster.

If necessary, Curl PEI and the host Silver Fox Curling and Yacht Club will make schedule changes to accommodate the MacLean rink during this trying time.  PEI curlers extend their sympathies to the Gallant family, the Maple Leaf, Cornwall and Silver Fox curling club, and to members of both the Matthew and Amanda MacLean rinks involved in the provincial junior championship this weekend.

This note is to ensure that everybody knows that our Mixed Doubles mini-cashspiel on January 4th is open to all ages. We confirmed with Curl PEI that there are no age restrictions on either the provincial or national events, so Junior curlers are welcome to participate in our bonspiel and in the provincials. Stick curlers (who do have their own two-person league and championship) are, however, prohibited from entering the provincial and national events, so we will be following the same rule for our mini-cashspiel.

Mixed Doubles curlers in action during our 2012 event

To provide practice and familiarization with the sport in advance of Curl PEI’s open-entry Mixed Doubles championship, Feb. 13-17 in O’Leary (with entries closing Jan. 16), the Cornwall Curling Club is holding a Mixed Doubles mini-cashspiel on Saturday January 4th. Entry fee is $40 per two-person team. Teams will play three six-end games each, with a payout of $20 per team for each win. Entry is limited to 16 teams, and curlers from all PEI clubs are invited to participate.

The event is open to mixed teams (one female, one male) only. Stick curlers are not permitted, as they are not eligible for the provincial, national and world championships. There are no age restrictions on either this cashspiel or the provincials and nationals, so Junior curlers are allowed to participate.

Note that games will be six ends each, in order to give curlers the chance to play three games. The provincial championships will be eight end games.

First draw will be at 9 am. Lunch will be provided. Teams can enter on the signup sheet that is now up at the Club, or by emailing cornwallcurling@eastlink.ca.

Click for more info on the sport of Mixed Doubles curling, including rules, and info on provincial, national and world Mixed Doubles events.

CCA photo: Cornwall’s Veronica Smith in a Mixed Doubles mini-competition at the M&M Meat Shops Canadian Junior Curling Championships in Fort McMurray, Alta.

Mixed Doubles Curling  is new form of the traditional sport, with the following main differences:

– Instead of playing in teams of four, mixed doubles curling is for teams of two players – one male and one female (no alternate/spare player is allowed).

– Teams have only six stones each (instead of eight) and one of those stones, from each team, is prepositioned on the centreline before each end of play starts.

– Player one delivers the first and last stones and player two plays the second, third and fourth stones. If they choose to, the two players may swap positions from one end to the next.

– Sweeping can be done by both team members.

– Each team receives 46 minutes of playing time and games are fixed at 8 ends – compared to 73 minutes and 10 ends for “traditional” curling.

CCA photo: Cornwall’s Veronica Smith in a Mixed Doubles mini-competition at the M&M Meat Shops Canadian Junior Curling Championships in Fort McMurray, Alta. (she lost the final of the bronze medal game in the mini-competition to her sister Sabrina)

Mixed Doubles has both a Canadian and a World championship, and is played in over 25 countries on four continents.

If you are interested in Mixed Doubles, get your two-person team together, and sign up for the Cornwall Curling  Club Mixed Doubles Bonspiel, on Saturday, January 4th, where you can try out this new form of our sport, and perhaps decide to sign up for the provincials.

Curl PEI is holding the Provincial Mixed Doubles Championship at the Maple Leaf Curling Club in O’Leary from Feb. 13-17 (same dates and venue as the Mixed). Entries have to be in by Jan. 16, with entry fee of $100 per team. The winners of the provincial championship will advance to the 2014 Mixed Doubles Curling Trials, March 19-23, 2014 at the Ottawa Hunt & Golf Club.

Teams at the Trials in Ottawa are responsible for their own travel and accommodations as well as the entry fee of  $400 per team. The entry fees collected will be returned in full as prize money. A host hotel with a preferred rate will be announced by January 1, 2014, however, choice of accommodations is up to the individual teams. Curl PEI will apply for a “team grant”  from the provincial government to assist with travel expenses. Coaches are welcome and will have access to the field of play for practices and time-outs. However, there will not be a spare or alternate pool nor will alternates be allowed to compete.

The 2014 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championships will take place April 23-30 in Dumfries Scotland, in conjunction with the World Senior Men’s and Women’s Curling Championships.

To get an idea on how a Mixed Doubles game works, take a look at the final, between Hungary and Sweden from last year’s Worlds in Fredericton NB:

Full  Game Logistics (World Curling Federation)
(a) A team is composed of two players, one male, and one female. Alternate players are not allowed. A team must forfeit any game(s) in which it fails to have both athletes playing for the entire game. One coach will be allowed for each team.
(b) The scoring shall be the same as in a regular game of curling. The “positioned” stones that are placed before the beginning of each end are eligible to be counted in the scoring.
(c) Each game will be scheduled for eight (8) ends.
(d) Each team shall receive twenty-four (24) minutes of thinking time.
(e) When extra ends are required, the clocks will be reset, and each team shall receive three (3) minutes of thinking time for each extra end.
(f) Each team shall deliver five (5) stones per end. The player delivering the team’s first stone of the end must also deliver the team’s last stone of that end. The other team member shall deliver the team’s second, third and fourth stones for that end. The player delivering the first stone can change from end to end.
(g) Modified FGZ – No stone in play, including the “positioned” stones and those in the house, can be moved to an out-of-play position prior to the delivery of the fourth stone of an end (the fourth delivered stone is the first stone that can remove any stone from play). If there is a violation, the delivered stone shall be removed from play, and any displaced stone(s) shall be replaced to their original position by the non-offending team.
(h) Before the start of every end, one team shall instruct the game umpire to place their team’s “positioned” stone at the playing end of the sheet in one of two positions, designated A and B. The opponent’s “positioned” stone shall then be placed by the game umpire in whichever position (A or B) remains vacant. The location of these positions shall be as follows:
1) Position A: Placement so that the stone is bisected by the centre line and is either immediately in front of or immediately behind one of 3 points in the ice. The points are placed on the centre line:
§ at the mid-point between the hog line and the outermost edge of the top of the house
§ 0.915 m. (3 feet) from the mid-point closer to the house
§ 0.915 m. (3 feet) from the mid-point closer to the hog line

Based on the ice conditions, the Chief Umpire shall determine the specific placement for Position A to be used before the start of the pre-game practice and that same placement must be used for the entire game.
2) Position B: Placement so that the stone is in the back of the house, bisected by the centre line and abutting the back edge of the tee.
(i) The team having the decision on the placement of the “positioned” stones shall be:
1) Teams opposing each other in the game shall use the Last Stone Draw (LSD) to determine which team has the decision in the first end. The team with the lesser LSD distance shall have the decision on the placement.
2) Following the first end, the team that did not score shall have the decision on the placement.
3) If neither team scores in an end, the team that delivered the first stone in that end shall have the decision on placement in the next end.
(j) The team whose “positioned” stone is placed in Position A (in front of the house) shall deliver the first stone in that end, and the team whose “positioned” stone is placed in Position B (in the house) shall deliver the second stone in that end.
(k) While the team is in the process of delivery, the non-delivering player must be positioned inside the hog line and on the ice surface at the playing end of the sheet. After delivery, either or both players may sweep their delivered stone and any stones set in motion that belong to their team anywhere in front of the tee line at the playing end. This applies during all of the team’s delivered stones, including the LSD.
(l) If a player delivers a stone out of proper rotation, that stone is returned to the hack to be delivered by the correct player, after any displaced stones have been replaced to their original positions by the non-offending team. Should the infraction not be discovered until after the delivery of a subsequent stone, play continues as if the infraction had not occurred.

Congratulations to Jake Dickey (Myron MacKay’s son-in-law), who participated in our Sports Day in Canada Try Curling session on Saturday, and whose name was drawn last night at the Curl PEI Board of Directors meeting as the recipient of a $100 gift certificate, which is redeemable here at the Cornwall Curling Club. Jake was a double-winner, also taking home one of the Sports Day T-shirt door prizes on Saturday!

Jake Dickey