Alberta leads the way to playoffs at Wheelchair Curling Championship

Alberta’s Jack Smart will lead the way into the playoffs after finishing in first place as the round robin wrapped up on Friday afternoon at the 2017 Canadian Wheelchair Curling Championship at the Club de curling Boucherville, Que. Smart stole a point in the seventh end, then ran Ontario’s Mike Munro out of rocks for a decisive 8-2 win, finishing the round robin with a 7-2 record. Joining Alberta in the semifinal round is Manitoba’s Dennis Thiessen who defeated Newfoundland and Labrador’s Cecilia Carroll 8-4 in the final draw on Friday afternoon. Quebec’s Benoit Lessard also won his last round robin game – a 7-4 decision over Nova Scotia’s Trendal Hubley-Bolivar – to finish in third place and move on to the semifinals. The last playoff spot is up for grabs, however, after New Brunswick’s Mike Fitzgerald and Ontario’s Mike Munro finished the round robin with identical 5-4 records. They will play a tiebreaker on Saturday afternoon (2:30 p.m. EDT) to determine who moves on to the semifinal. Finishing out of playoff contention are Saskatchewan and Newfoundland and Labrador, both with 4-5 records, as well as Northern Ontario’s Doug Dean and British Columbia’s Gerry Austgarden at 3-6, and Nova Scotia at 2-7. The semifinals (1 vs 4, 2 vs 3) take place on Saturday at 6:30 p.m., with the medal games on Sunday morning at 11 a.m. (all times EDT). Scores, standings and team information can be found on the event website, at www.curling.ca/2017wheelchair/.