CALGARY, November 14…Alberta solidified its hold on first place Wednesday afternoon at the Canadian Mixed Curling Championship by defeating New Brunswick, 6-4 in a hard-fought affair.

The victory by Dean Ross’s Calgary team upped its record to 8-1.   However, the Ross squad was pushed to the limit by Fredericton’s Jamie Brannen’s team, taking a deuce in the eighth end for a 5-3 lead, then counting one in the 10th end to seal the victory.

Alberta hasn’t clinched first place yet though, since it plays Nova Scotia in Draw 10 Wednesday evening at 6:00 pm MT/8:00 pm ET.  But the afternoon victory, coupled with an Ontario loss, restored the host province’s two game margin.

Surprising Nova Scotia, skipped by Peter Burgess of Truro, has now moved into a three-way tie for second, with a 6-3 mark, after beating Prince Edward Island, 7-5.    Joining the ‘bluenosers’ in second are Quebec, skipped by Simon Dupuis of Thurso and Ontario’s Bob Turcotte of Toronto.  Quebec defeated Ontario, 6-3, in a crucial encounter, to create the three-way tie.

In other Draw 9 games, British Columbia, skipped by Bryan Miki of New Westminster, defeated Newfoundland and Labrador, 8-5; Saskatchewan, skipped by Ian Mayoh of Debden, upset Manitoba, 7-5 and Yukon/Northwest Territories, skipped by Wade Scoffin of Whitehorse, knocked Northern Ontario down a peg with a 6-4 win, stealing singles in the ninth and 10th ends.  Northern Ontario, skipped by Mike Assad of Thunder Bay, drops to 5-4, alone in fifth place.

The round robin 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, depending on the number of tiebreakers.

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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