Championship Pool play underway at Canadian Seniors

The championship round got underway Tuesday morning at the 2019 Everest Canadian Seniors Curling Championships in Chilliwack, BC., with the leaders after the round robin starting their quest to secure a spot in the playoffs. In women’s play, Ontario’s Sherry Middaugh finished the day at the top of the standings with an 8-0 record. After picking up a 5-4 win over the reigning champion Sherry Anderson of Saskatchewan in the morning draw, Ontario extended their win streak with a 7-3 victory over Kim Beaudry of Northern Ontario. “This week has been so much fun” said Middaugh after her win. “Being new to seniors curling I don’t find it near the grind that women’s play has become. Everyone has been so great to play against, respectful, courteous, laid-back, but still has that competitiveness in them. It really reminds me of what this great sport is all about.” In other games, a tight match-up between Alberta and Newfoundland and Labrador in the morning draw proved just how intense the Championship Pool is expected to get. Down two in the eighth end, Glenys Bakker’s Alberta rink grabbed three to make the final 6-5. Nova Scotia’s Nancy McConnery was victorious over British Columbia’s Marilou Richter, 5-4, and Saskatchewan secured a 7-4 win over one of the heavy hitters, Manitoba’s Terry Ursel, in the evening match-ups. On the Men’s side, only Saskatchewan’s Bruce Korte remains undefeated with an 8-0 record after the first day of Championship Pool play. “This week couldn’t be much better,” said Saskatchewan third Darrell McKee after a 5-4 win over Manitoba on Tuesday evening. “It’s a new team with Kory (Kohuch) and Rory (Golanowski) just aging in, but with our history in men’s over the years, including a few Briers, we knew it would be a good fit and we set our goal to win.” In the evening draw, Alberta’s Wade White and his 2018 World gold medal team showed up to play against Northern Ontario’s Al Hacker, scoring three in the sixth end on the way to a 7-4 win and a overall 6-2 record. Reigning champions Ontario improved to a 5-3 record after upsetting Nova Scotia’s Brent MacDougall 6-2. And Quebec defeated British Columbia 7-3 to improve their record to 5-3 and keep their playoff hopes alive. In Seeding Pool play, the women from Nunavut picked up another historic win (only their second in national seniors competition), defeating Prince Edward Island 12-1 in the afternoon draw. On the men’s side, P.E.I.’sPhil Gorveatt improved to 4-4 with wins over New Brunswick and Nunavut. Championship and Seeding Pool play continues on Wednesday with three more draws at 12 p.m., 5 p.m. and 10 p.m. EDT. Draw results for the 2019 Everest Canadian Seniors will be available at www.curling.ca. For event information, visit www.curling.ca/2019seniors. Selected games from the 2019 Everest Canadian Seniors will be streamed live by CBC Sports. You can watch at cbcsports.ca or via the CBC Sports app for iOS and Android.