CALGARY, November 13….Leader Alberta finally tasted defeat Tuesday night at the Canadian Mixed Curling Championship, being played at the Calgary Curling Club.

Manitoba, skipped by Reid Carruthers of Winnipeg, proved the giant killer in Draw 8, edging Alberta, skipped by Dean Ross of Calgary, 5-4 in an extra end.

Even though the loss by Ross dropped his team’s record to 7-1, Alberta still maintained its hold on top spot.   But now it’s Ontario, skipped by Bob Turcotte, representing the Scarboro Golf & Country Club, which has moved into second spot with a 6-2 mark, after defeating Yukon/Northwest Territories, 8-6.

Northern Ontario, skipped by Mike Assad of Thunder Bay, fell into a three-way tie for third with Nova Scotia and Quebec, after being edged, 6-5, by British Columbia.

In other games, Quebec, skipped by Simon Dupuis of Thurso, beat Saskatchewan, 8-5, New Brunswick whacked Prince Edward Island, 8-2 and Nova Scotia, skipped by Peter Burgess of Truro, got by Newfoundland and Labrador, 8-6.

That left Manitoba and New Brunswick tied for sixth with 4-4 records, followed by British Columbia, Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island at 3-5, Yukon/NWT at 2-6 and Saskatchewan at 1-7.

Round robin play continues on Wednesday with draws at 12 Noon and 6:00 pm local time and concludes 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 either Thursday evening or Friday morning.

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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