IQALUIT, Nunavut, November 11…Saskatchewan, skipped by Darrell McKee of Saskatoon, kept its perfect record intact with a 16-2 demolishing of the Territories (George Lennie of Inuvik) Tuesday evening at the Canadian Mixed Curling Championship.

A seven-ender in the eighth end put the exclamation mark on a wide-open contest.  The victory moved Saskatchewan to 7-0, one game ahead of idle Northern Ontario (Ian Fisher of Sault Ste. Marie), which is in second place with a 6-1 mark.

Manitoba (Sean Grassie of Winnipeg) improved to 5-1 with an 8-3 victory over winless Alberta (Tom Appelman of Edmonton).  Ontario (Wayne Tuck of Brantford) is next at 5-2, while Nova Scotia (Mark Dacey of Halifax) is at 4-2.

In other Draw 10 matches at Arniatok Arena, Prince Edward Island (Bill Hope of Charlottetown) edged New Brunswick (Scott Jones of Moncton), 8-6, as both teams are now 2-4.    And, in an extra end affair, Newfoundland and Labrador (Andrew Mercer of St. John’s) also moved to 2-4, defeating British Columbia (Greg Monkman of New Westminster), 8-7.    British Columbia dropped to 3-4.

Round robin play continues on Wednesday with draws at 10:00 am, 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.

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.

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.

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