IQALUIT, Nunavut, November 13…First place at the Canadian Mixed Curling Championship is on the line tonight at 7:00 pm ET, when Saskatchewan meets Manitoba in Draw 16 at the Arniatok Arena.
Saskatchewan (Darrell McKee of Saskatoon) won a tight one Thursday afternoon over Northern Ontario (Ian Fisher of Sault Ste. Marie), 10-8, to move to 9-1, while Manitoba (Sean Grassie of Winnipeg) edged Quebec (Simon Hebert of Thetford Mines), 4-3, upping its record to 8-1.
Tonight’s winner will not only claim first place, but receives a bye to Saturday afternoon’s final. While it is the final game of the round robin for Saskatchewan, Manitoba finishes up Friday morning at 10:00 am against Prince Edward Island.
In other Draw 15 games, British Columbia (Greg Monkman of New Westminster) defeated New Brunswick (Scott Jones of Moncton), 9-4 while Prince Edward Island (Bill Hope of Charlottetown) clipped Newfoundland and Labrador (Andrew Mercer of St. John’s), 8-6. All four teams, though, have been eliminated from the playoffs.
Currently sitting in third spot, with a 7-3 record, is Ontario (Wayne Tuck of Brantford), which plays Alberta this evening, while Nova Scotia (Mark Dacey of Halifax) is at 6-3, with a game in hand. Dacey plays winless Territories Thursday evening and New Brunswick Friday morning.
Northern Ontario dropped to 6-4 with the loss and needs to not only beat Quebec tonight, but has to hope that Alberta defeats Ontario, while Nova Scotia loses one of its two remaining games.
After the round robin concludes Friday morning, any required tiebreakers will begin in the afternoon, with the second and third place finishers meeting in a semi-final, either Friday night or Saturday morning, depending on the number of tiebreakers required.
In addition to a Canadian title, two players from the winning team will also represent Canada at the 2009 World Mixed Doubles Championship, slated for April 17-25, 2009 in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.
Alberta has won a leading nine Mixed titles since the championship began in 1964. Saskatchewan is next with eight, Manitoba has won seven, Nova Scotia six and Ontario only two.
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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