The winless column is empty, after two draws Monday at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts Canadian women’s curling championship.
Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Northwest Territories/Yukon all found a shot or two to erase the memory of three straight losses at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre, while British Columbia’s Marla Mallett and Jennifer Jones of Team Canada, both at four wins, remain as the only undefeated teams in the mix.
In a fabulous final, Sean Geall breaks through to win his first provincial championship with a 8-7 win over Jay Peachey in the final. Geall’s team of Brent Pierce at third, Kevin Recksiedler at second and Mark Olson at lead will represent British Columbia at the Brier in Calgary.
Peachey had won six in a row to get to the final but seemed to run out of gas in the latter ends. Robbie Gallaugher at lead, Kevin Mackenzie at second and Grant Dezura at third were outstanding in the latter half of the week needing to win a tie-breaker to get into the playoff.
Can you say “on fire”?
Jay Peachey and his Royal City rink of Grant Dezura at third, Kevin Mackenzie at second and Robbie Gallaugher at lead have rung off six wins in a row with their semi-final win over Dennis Graber of Kamloops 7-6. It didn’t come easy though as Peachey needed to draw full four-foot for the win in the extra-end.
Graber got a fast start taking two in the first end. Peachey answered right back with a deuce of his own in the second and followed with a steal of one in the third. Graber fought back for two in the fourth end to take a 4-3 lead. After a blank in the fifth, Peachey had to draw almost the button as he nuzzled up to his own stone on the button to get a difficult two and take a 5-4 lead.
After a story book beginning, the week came to an end for veteran Rick Folk. Hometown favourites, Jay Peachey, Grant Dezura, Kevin Mackenzie & Robbie Gallagher, stormed through ten ends with conviction. Jay was on fire, curling an impressive 92%. His performance was second only to his third, Grant Dezura, who curled an equally awesome 93%.
The comeback kids were at it again. For the second straight game, Sean Geall and his team of Brent Pierce at third, Kevin Recksiedler at second and Mark Olson at lead from the Royal City Curling Club fell behind by three early in the game. There is no quit in this team though. Just like this morning against Bob Ursel in Draw 9, they fought back to win in the Page Playoff first versus game over Dennis Graber of Kamloops 6-5.
After eight draws it looked like there could be a bunch of tie-breakers. As usual though, everything seems to get flushed out at the end leaving Jay Peachey to play Jeff Richard for the final playoff spot at 2:30pm today.
Rick Folk still has some magic left after a few uncharacteristic missed draws early on, but he didn’t miss his last one. In a tie game in the tenth, Jeff Richard froze to a Folk stone back button. Folk had no shot to remove it with a hit so he reverted to what he does best: the draw. Folk needed to cover the pin to save a win and keep his playoff hopes alive. Rick’s Kelowna front end of Aron Herrick and Jamie Smith brushed it just right to cover the pin hole in an exciting finish. The win gives Folk a 7-6 win and moving them into a tie for second place with Dennis Graber from Kamloops at 5-3.
