Alberta Clinches Berth In Final!

Kurt Balderston of Grande Prairie, Alberta has clinched the bye to the Saturday’s championship final following an 8-5 win over Ontario’s Mark Homan. Balderston made a nice double take-out with his final shot of a tied game to count three. His record is 10-1 and regardless of what happens in his last two games, the berth in the final is still his. Homan drops to 7-4 and in a five way tie for third place in what should be a wild finish for the final two playoff berths in the semi- finals. New Brunswick’s Sylvie Robichaud avoided the mess at 7-4 with a workmanlike 6-3 win over Nova Scotia’s Chris Sutherland (2-8). Robichaud is alone in second place at 8-3. Joining Homan in the logjam at 7-4 are Quebec’s Martin Ferland who fell 8-5 to PEI’s Brett Gallant (6-5); Saskatchewan’s Jason Ackerman who was beaten 11-4 by BC’s Doug Marshall (6-5); and Manitoba’s Sean Grassie (7-4) and Northern Ontario’s Mike Assad (7-4) who each had evening byes. In the evening’s final match, Newfoundland & Labrador’s Gary Alcock stopped Yukon’s Scott Hamilton 14-4 to improve to 2-8. Hamilton is winless at 0-11. NWT (5-5) and Nunavut (1-9)  also had evening byes. Key Thursday match-ups are: NB versus Saskatchewan and Alberta versus Northern Ontario in Draw 16; Ontario vs BC and Alberta versus Saskatchewan in Draw 17; and, Quebec versus NB and the battle of Ontario in the evening draw when Assad meets Homan. Standings www.curling.ca/championships/mixed/draw-schedule/standings/ For complete results, visit the CCA’s CurlCast www.curling.ca/championships/curlcast-1/ Draws continue throughout the week at the Sudbury Curling Club with game times each day – Saturday, November 12 to Thursday, November 17 – at 10:00 a.m., 2:30 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. The final draw is Friday, November 18th at 9:00 a.m. followed by playoffs leading to the championship final Saturday, November 19th at 1:30 p.m. (all times Eastern).