A long week of action is going to come down to the final draw of the round-robin to determine playoff positions at the Canadian Wheelchair Curling Championship in Moose Jaw.
Saskatchewan 1’s Gil Dash, Manitoba’s Dennis Thiessen and Newfoundland and Labrador’s Doug Dean all hold down 7-2 records heading into the 11th draw of the national tournament currently underway at the Moose Jaw Curling Centre, making things relatively simple for all three rinks.
Just win and you’re in.
Dash, third Marie Wright, second Moose Gibson and lead Sheryl Pederson have the inside track on one of the playoff spots thanks to round robin victories over Newfoundland and B.C.’s Gerry Austgarden, who at 6-3 can move into a four-way tie for first if things play out his way.
Manitoba and B.C. play each other in the final draw, while Sask 1 takes on Quebec’s Carl Marquis (4-5) and Newfoundland faces New Brunswick’s Mike Fitzgerald (1-8).
Action from the morning draw Friday saw Sask 1 drop a 5-4 decision to Alberta 1’s Martin Purvis (3-6), while Alberta 2’s Don Kuchylema (4-5) took an 8-1 win over Ontario 1’s Doug Morris (5-4), Manitoba downed Newfoundland 7-6 after scoring pair in the eighth and B.C moved into contention with an 8-4 win over Quebec.
The Saskatchewan 2 foursome of Rod Pederson, third Pete Andrews, second Mark Kennedy, lead Zahra Ehsani and lead Tara-Lee Hess dropped a 7-1 decision to New Brunswick and cap their tournament with a 3-7 record. The tournament was the wheelchair curling debut for the entire rink other than Pederson.
The top three teams advance to the playoff round Saturday, with second and third place facing off in the semifinal at 10 a.m. and the winner there advancing to face the first place team at 2:30 p.m.
All games are at the Moose Jaw Curling Centre, and you can follow along with the scores at www.curling.ca.
