Newfoundland/Labrador advances to men’s semi-final at M&M Meat Shops Canadian Juniors

Newfoundland/Labrador, skipped by Colin Thomas of St. John’s, has advanced to the men’s semi-final on Sunday after beating New Brunswick (Jon Rennie of Fredericton), 7-5 in Friday afternoon’s tiebreaker at the M&M Meat Shops Canadian Juniors in Calgary. After the first two ends were blanked, Thomas took three in the third and never looked back. Rennie closed the gap to 5-3 with a seventh end steal. Then, after Thomas took one in the eighth, Rennie responded with a deuce in nine to make it 6-5. But New Brunswick was unable to remove a Newfoundland/Labrador counter in the 10th with its last stone, making the final, 7-5, as Thomas didn’t have to throw his last one. Newfoundland/Labrador and New Brunswick had finished tied for third with 8-4 records, hence the need for a tiebreaker. Thomas had also beaten Rennie in Draw 2 of the round robin, 8-2. Thomas now meets Ontario’s Mat Camm of Ottawa, the second place finisher who completed the round robin with a 9-3 mark, in the semi-final Sunday morning at 10:30 am MT. Camm was a 9-3 winner over Thomas in Draw 8 of the round robin. The winner then advances to the M&M Meat Shops Canadian Junior men’s final on Sunday (5:30 pm MT/7:30 pm ET, live on TSN) to face unbeaten (12-0) Saskatchewan, skipped by Braeden Moskowy of Regina. Saturday morning at 10:30 am MT, the women’s semi-final takes place between Saskatchewan (Trish Paulsen of Saskatoon) and Manitoba (Breanne Meakin of Winnipeg). Saskatchewan finished second with a 9-3 mark, while Manitoba was third at 8-4. In their round robin encounter in Draw 7, Meakin took a 7-6 extra end decision. The winner advances to the final Saturday evening (5:30 pm MT/7:30 pm ET, live on TSN) to meet host Alberta, skipped by Nadine Chyz of Calgary, who went 11-1 during the round robin in securing first place. Both the semi-finals and finals will be played at the North Hill Community Curling Club.