CALGARY, November 12…Alberta continues to lead the way at the Canadian Mixed Curling Championship, being played at the Calgary Curling Club.

Skipped by Dean Ross of Calgary, Alberta outlasted Yukon/NWT, 5-3 in Draw 5 action Monday afternoon to up its record to a perfect 5-0, the only unbeaten team at this year’s championship.

The game proved a bit of a struggle, though, as it wasn’t until the ninth end that an Alberta deuce put the host province in front for good.

Northern Ontario and Ontario, though, kept pace, winning their contests to move to 4-1, a game behind.  Northern Ontario, skipped by Mike Assad of Thunder Bay, had no trouble disposing of Saskatchewan 9-3. 

However, Ontario, skipped by Bob Turcotte who is representing the Scarboro Golf and Country Club in Toronto, needed a steal of one in the 10th end to seal its 7-5 win over British Columbia’s Bryan Miki, the 2000 world men’s champion.

New Brunswick’s Jamie Brannen of Fredericton whipped Nova Scotia, 8-1, stealing four in the game-ending sixth end, while Newfoundland and Labrador, skipped by Brian Bailey of Corner Brook, took one in the 10th end to edge Manitoba, 6-5.   The results moved New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador into a tie for fourth place with 3-2 marks.

In the other game, Prince Edward Island, skipped by three-time provincial junior champion Kyle Stevenson of Charlottetown, won its second straight, hammering Quebec, 11-2, counting fives in both the fourth and sixth ends. 

That meant Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Quebec are now at 2-3, with British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Yukon/NWT mired in the basement with 1-4 records.

Round robin play continues on Monday with Draw 6 at 6:00 pm MT/8:00 pm ET.   There are also draws on Tuesday and Wednesday at 12 noon and 6:00 pm local time.

The round robin concludes on Thursday morning with a 9:00 am draw, followed by any required tiebreakers before the playoffs.  The first place team will advance to Friday’s 1:00 pm MT/3:00 pm ET final, while the second and third place teams meet in a semi-final.

Twelve teams, representing the 10 provinces plus separate entries for Northern Ontario and Yukon/Northwest Territories, are battling for the 2008 Canadian Mixed title, which has been won by Alberta and Saskatchewan a leading eight times each since the championship began in 1964 in Toronto.

Two members of the winning team will also compete in the inaugural 2008 World Mixed Doubles Championship, March 9-15 in Vierumäki, Finland.   The team members will decide who will represent Canada at the event.

CurlTV (www.curltv.com) is providing event coverage to its subscribers.

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