March 18-It was an all Nova Scotia final in the men's section of the second annual Maritime Stick Curling Championships, sponsored by Ferguson Funeral Homes, which wrapped up this afternoon at the Cornwall Curling Club.
Photo (L-R): Ron Crowe, Ted Lohnes
L-R: Wayne Gormann/Ray Shillington
The duo of Ted Lohnes and Ron Crowe beat the team of Wayne Gormann and Ray Shillington by a 7-1 score in the final, taking two points in the opening end, and stealing a deuce and a single in the next two ends to build up an early 5-0 lead.
Left to right: Bob Leard (Stick Curl PEI), Vernon Chowan, Grant Laird |
L-R: Bob Leard (Stick Curl PEI), Kerry Gardner, Vince Clark
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Lohnes/Crowe doubled PEI's Grant Laird/Vernon Chowan twosome 4-2 in one semi-final, while Gormann/Shillington got by the Vince Clark/Kerry Gardner pair, also from Nova Scotia, by a 7-5 score in the other.
The Clark/Gardner team edged the Laird/Chowan rink 4-3 in the consolation final, between the losers of the semi-final matches. Twelve teams participated in the men's division.
Photo (L-R) Bob Leard (Stick Curl PEI), Ruth Stavert, Gloria Clarke
In the four team women's divison, with all PEI teams this year, the Ruth Stavert/Gloria Clarke team from the host Cornwall Curling Club beat out the team of Cornwall's Shirley Lank and Crapaud's Ruth Walsh by a 7-1 score in the final. Lank/Walsh had finished the round robin in first place with a 5-1 win-loss record, while Stavert/Clarke were second at 3-2.
L-R: Ruth Walsh, Shirley Lank
Guest speakers at the Tuesday opening banquet for the event included Patrick MacFadyen, Mayor of Cornwall, Shirley Lank, President of the PEI Curling Association, John DeLuca, President of the Cornwall Curling Club, and Bob Leard, President of Stick Curl PEI. Master of Ceremonies was Ernie Stavert. Sterling Stratton led everyone in a word game based on the player names in the event.
Click for a photo album of the opening banquet
In stick curling there are two curlers per team, who deliver their rocks with delivery sticks, with each team member delivering from opposite ends. Sweeping is allowed only from the hog line to the back of the house at the playing end. Two curlers, one from each team, alternately deliver 6 stones each per end, while their teammate skips that end. The roles are then reversed, and the partners deliver the stones back. All games are six ends.
Next year's Maritime Stick championship will be in New Brunswick.
This year's event was run under the auspices of Stick Curl PEI, who would like to thank sponsors Ferguson Funeral Homes, Bob's Stick, and Harold Brister, for their support to this event.
For more information on stick curling, including complete rules of play, visit www.stickcurling.ca.