IQALUIT, Nunavut, November 11…Saskatchewan is now the only undefeated team at the Canadian Mixed Curling Championship, being played at Arniatok Arena.

Tuesday morning, Darrell McKee’s Saskatoon foursome edged Quebec (Simon Hebert of Thetford Mines), 6-5 in Draw 8 action to move to 6-0 in the 12-team competition. 

However, previously unbeaten Manitoba (Sean Grassie of Winnipeg) fell to Northern Ontario (Ian Fisher of Sault Ste. Marie), 10-7.

So now it’s Northern Ontario in second place with a 5-1 mark, followed by Manitoba at 4-1. Then comes Ontario (Wayne Tuck of Brantford) at 4-2, after its 8-5 win over Prince Edward Island (Bill Hope of Charlottetown).

In the other game, Nova Scotia, skipped by 2002 Mixed and 2004 Brier champion Mark Dacey of Halifax, upped its record to 3-2 after defeating Newfoundland and Labrador (Andrew Mercer of St. John’s), 7-3.   Idle British Columbia (Greg Monkman of New Westminster) is also at 3-2.

Round robin play continues today with draws at 2:30 pm and 7:00 pm.

Upon completion of the round robin on Friday morning, the first place team will advance directly to the final on Saturday, November 15, while the second and third place teams meet in a semi-final to determine the other finalist.

This 46th edition of the Canadian Mixed, presented by First Air, marks the first time that a Canadian sport championship has been contested in Iqaluit, Nunavut.

Alberta has won a leading nine Mixed titles since the championship began in 1964 in Toronto, including last season, when Dean Ross of Calgary defeated Ontario’s Bob Turcotte in the final.

Saskatchewan’s last win, its eighth Canadian Mixed title, came in 1996 in Charlottetown, courtesy of skip Randy Bryden, while Northern Ontario, with three victories, last won the Mixed in 1997, by skip Chris Johnson in Kindersley, Saskatchewan.

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