GRANDE PRAIRIE, Alta. — It’s been a perfect run so far for Yorkton’s Cathy Inglis at the Canadian Masters Curling Championship.
Inglis and her rink of third Joan McCusker, second Patsy Kuspira and lead Bev Fuches continued round robin play Wednesday with a pair of victories in the women’s draw, taking a 6-3 win over Prince Edward Island’s Team Rhodenhizer in the morning draw before downing B.C.’s Team Mychauk in the evening.
As a result, Inglis is the lone remaining unbeaten team in the preliminary round, sitting atop the standings with a 4-0 record.
A pair of deuces were the difference against P.E.I., with Inglis scoring a pair in the first end, after which the teams exchanged single points and saw Saskatchewan holding a 3-2 lead through four. Inglis’ second deuce gave her a three point edge at the break, and she’d add a steal in the seventh before holding Rhodenhizer to one in the final end.
Inglis put together an impressive rally in her second game, as despite picking up three in the second end, P.E.I. would add deuces the next two frames to take a 4-3 lead. It was all Saskatchewan from there, though, as they’d put up two in the fifth, steal one in the sixth and another four in the seventh for the commanding victory.
Inglis has one game Thursday, that during the 2:30 p.m. draw against Nova Scotia’s Team Saulnier.
Weyburn’s Jim Nikolejsin, third Jaime Miller, second Ray Calbow and lead Darcy Cretin had some good news on Wednesday as they picked up their first win the the men’s draw, defeating Newfoundland’s Team Matthews 7-5 in the morning before dropping a 6-2 decision to Manitoba’s Team Neufeld in the evening.
Things were close in the early going against Matthews, as Newfoundland held a 2-1 lead heading into the fifth end break. Nikolejsin appeared to take control of things with three in the sixth and a steal in the seventh for a 5-2 edge, but Matthews would come all the way back to tie things up in the eighth. Saskatchewan put the hammer to perfect use in the final end, though, scoring a pair for the win.
The evening draw saw Manitoba get off to a fast start with single points in each of the first four ends. Saskatchewan got back within striking distance with a pair in the fifth, but those would be the only points they’d put on the board, as Neufeld blanked the sixth, scored two more in the seventh and ran Nikolejsin out of rocks in the eighth.
Saskatchewan sits at 1-3 in Pool B, and as fate would have it, they face the other 1-3 rink in their final preliminary round game in a ‘win-and-you’re in’ scenario. A victory over New Brunswick’s Team Stewart during the 10 a.m. draw will see Nikolejsin finish in fourth place and advance to the championship pool.
Round robin action continues through Saturday and you can follow along with all the scores by clicking right here.
