Nova Scotia and Newfoundland & Labrador Women Stay Close to the Top

Draw 15 of the 2012 Canadian Seniors Curling Championships in Abbotsford, BC featured all twelve of the women’s teams in action. In a key match-up, Nova Scotia’s Nancy Delahunt and Saskatchewan’s Darlene Gillies squared off, both with 5-2 records. Down two points playing the 4th end, Delahunt, with Colleen Jones playing last stones, took three points and their first lead. Though they gave up a deuce in the very next end, they returned from the 5th end break with a vengeance outscoring their Prairie rival 6-1 over the final 5 ends. The Saskatchewan skip did have a difficult hit through a narrow port to possibly tie the game, in the last end, but her final stone wrecked on the guard. Delahunt improves to 6-2 in a tie for second place with Cathy Cunningham of the RE/MAX Centre in St. John’s.  Cunningham broke open a tie game with a score of three in the 7th and a steal of one in the 8th end coasting to a 7-4 win over Darla Esch of Northern Ontario. The North Bay skip drops to 3-5. Continuing to lead the round robin is Cathy King of Edmonton’s Saville Sports Centre. King led 6-1 playing the 8th end when Manitoba’s Laurie Deprez tossed a scare in Alberta’s game plan with 4 points. King calmly recovered with three of her own in the next end to finish off Stonewall’s Deprez 9-5. King continues to lead the field at 7-1 while Deprez drops to a three way tie for 5th at 4-4. In that three way tie are BC’s Penny Shantz and New Brunswick’s Heidi Hanlon both keeping their slim playoff hopes alive with wins. Shantz dumped Ontario’s Nancy Harrison 9-7 in a game close only on the scoreboard. Shantz led by 5 after eight ends.  Hanlon made short work of PEI’s Shirley Berry 12-3, dropping Berry’s record to 2-6. Quebec’s Odette Trudel used larceny in winning her match with the NWT’s Anne McKellar-Gillis. Trudel stole a single in the 9th and then crowded the four foot area in the last end stealing two more for a 9-6 win. Trudel is now 3-5 while the Yellowknife team drops to 1-7. The round robin continues until Friday, March 23 with semi-finals for both genders then scheduled for Saturday followed by both championship finals, Sunday, March 25 at 2:00pm EST. Scores & Standings Host Committee Web Site