CALGARY, November 14….Alberta has clinched first place and a berth in Friday’s final of the Canadian Mixed Curling Championship after defeating Nova Scotia, 8-5 Wednesday evening at the Calgary Curling Club.

Skipped by Calgary’s Dean Ross, Alberta, a front-runner from the start of the event last Saturday, pushed its record to 9-1 with the victory, with one draw remaining in the round robin. 

Since its closest pursuer, Ontario, is two games in arrears, the host province was able to snare top spot, regardless of how it fares in Thursday morning’s final round robin game against Newfoundland and Labrador.

Alberta jumped to a quick 4-0 lead over Nova Scotia, taking two in the first end, then stealing singles in the second and third.  But the ‘bluenosers’, skipped by Peter Burgess of Truro, clawed their way back with a three-spot in the seventh end to reduce the margin to 5-4.   The teams traded singles in the next two ends, though, before Alberta was able to take two in the 10th to clinch.

In other Draw 10 results, Ontario defeated Manitoba, 8-5 to move into sole possession of second place, with a 7-3 mark.  Skipped by three-time Canadian seniors champion Bob Turcotte, representing the Scarboro Golf & Country Club in Toronto, Ontario stole singles in the ninth and 10th ends for the win against Manitoba’s Reid Carruthers of Winnipeg.

Three teams are currently tied for third with 6-4 marks – Northern Ontario, Nova Scotia and Quebec.  Northern Ontario, skipped by Mike Assad of Thunder Bay, climbed back into contention by beating Quebec’s Simon Dupuis of Thurso, 8-4.

Others scores saw Saskatchewan defeat New Brunswick, 8-5, Prince Edward Island beat Newfoundland and Labrador, 7-4 and British Columbia take down Yukon/Northwest Territories, 7-3.

After Thursday morning’s 9:00 am draw, Alberta will advance to Friday’s 1:00 pm MT/3:00 pm ET final, while the second and third place teams meet in a semi-final either Thursday evening or Friday morning, depending on the number of tiebreakers required.

Twelve teams, representing the 10 provinces plus separate entries for Northern Ontario and Yukon/Northwest Territories, have been battling for the 2008 Canadian Mixed title since last Saturday.   Alberta and Saskatchewan have each won the Mixed a leading eight times, since the championship began in 1964 in Toronto.

In addition to winning the Canadian title, two members of the winning team will also compete in the inaugural 2008 World Mixed Doubles Championship, March 9-15 in Vierumäki, Finland.   The team members will decide who will represent Canada at the event.

CurlTV (www.curltv.com) is providing complete coverage of the Mixed to its subscribers.

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