Neepawa hosting Mixed Curling Championship
- Details
- Published on Tuesday, March 22, 2016
By Eoin Devereux
The Neepawa Press/Neepawa Banner
This weekend, the Neepawa Curling Club is home to some of the best male and female curlers from across the province, as it hosts the 2016 Chicken Chef Mixed Provincial Championship. The event, which runs Mar. 24 to 27, features 16 teams composed of men and women together. The winners of this tournament will have the opportunity to represent Manitoba at the Canadian Mixed Championship, set for Nov. 12 to 19 in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia.
The top five seeded curling clubs heading into the Provincials are top seed Derek Samagalski, from the Gimli Curling Club, defending champion Bob Sigurdson from Granite, Alex Forrest of East St. Paul, Fort Rouge’s Braden Calvert and Corey Chambers of East St. Paul. Neepawa is also well represented this weekend, as a pair of local teams will vie for the title. One team is made up of skip Jeff Stewart, third Terry Ursel, second Ron Kulbacki and lead Darla Hanke. The other consists of skip Jerry Chudley, third Tina Kozak, second Brent McKee and Andrea Smith serving as the lead.
Organizing committee chairperson Wanda Rainka said there are some very talented teams that’ll be competing at this event.
“There are some familiar names that are a part of the draw. Certainly quite a few good curlers out there and some interesting draws that’ll make for a few very exciting games,” said Rainka.
This year, there will be a slight change to the game format, as it will feature a triple knockout, with the teams playing down to six qualifiers. The two qualifier teams from the A-side will receive automatic byes into the semi-final, while two teams from the B-side and C-side respectively play one another in the quarterfinals. Rainka said this change will ensure that every game matters for the competing clubs and will make for some very exciting action on the ice.
As for the preparations for the Mixed Championship, the host committee has been very busy over the past three months getting everything organized. Rainka noted that during the three days of games, there will be about 30 volunteers tirelessly working to ensure everything goes off without a hitch. There will also be several raffles throughout the weekend, with proceeds going to support local youth curling initiatives.
Admission for all the games at the Mixed Provincial Championship is free. The first draw gets underway on Friday, Mar. 25 at 8:30 am and will feature both local teams, as Jerry Chudley plays against Kyle Doering, while Jeff Stewart will go against Alex Forrest. The second draw of the opening round begins at 11:30 am. As for the final, it will take place at 8:00 pm on Sunday, Mar. 27.
