BOUCHERVILLE, Que. — Saskatchewan’s Marie Wright foursome saw their quest for another Canadian Wheelchair Curling Championship gold medal come up short on Saturday morning.
Wright and her Moose Jaw rink of third Gil Dash, second Moose Gibson, lead Pete Andrews and coach Ben Gamble dropped an 8-6 extra end decision to Northern Ontario’s Douglas Dean in the semifinal and as a result will finish out of the medals.
As one might expect between two of the most accomplished teams in the draw, the contest was a close one, with the teams sitting tied 2-2 through three ends. Wright picked up one in the fifth but looked to get into a bit of trouble when Dean put up three in the sixth for a 5-3 edge. Saskatchewan came right back with a three-spot of their own the next frame, though, setting up a dramatic finish.
Northern Ontario — who came into the event as the defending champions — successfully used the hammer to tie things up in the eighth and then got a steal of two in the extra to advance to the gold medal game.
It had been a perfect week for Saskatchewan until the playoffs, as they posted a 5-0 record in the round robin to finish first in their pool. That included a 5-4 win over Northern Ontario on Monday before playing two games Tuesday and taking a 6-5 victory against New Brunswick’s Sarah Benevides and 8-5 win against Nova Scotia’s Laughlin Rutt.
Wright then closed out the preliminary round with an 11-2 victory over Newfoundland’s Cecilia Carroll and 7-3 win over Quebec’s Luc Hamel on Thursday.
The first round of the playoffs saw Wright take a 5-4 extra end win over Ontario’s Karl Allen, sending Saskatchewan into the Page Playoff 1-2 game, where they’d drop a 5-2 decision to Quebec’s Carl Marquis and move into the semifinal.
