Leaders start to emerge in Wheelchair Championship

The standings are beginning to take shape at the 2014 Canadian Wheelchair Curling Championship in Boucherville, Que., as undefeated Ontario continues to lead the pack after three days of competition, with Quebec and Saskatchewan close behind. Ontario’s Mike Munro (5-0) continued his winning streak on Wednesday, defeating Alberta’s Jack Smart 10-3 to cap off a perfect day that began with an 8-4 win over Northern Ontario’s Gino Sonego (2-3) in the morning draw. Close behind is Quebec’s Benoit Lessard (4-1), the defending champion from the home province, who won two games on Day 3 of the round robin to stay among the leaders. Lessard had a battle against Sonego in Draw 5, with both teams stealing points in the early ends. Trailing by one in the eighth, Lessard made a perfect hit-and-stick to force the extra end, where he stole two more for the 7-5 win. Saskatchewan’s Darwin Bender (3-2) scored a couple of three-enders to win 8-3 over Nova Scotia’s George Horning (2-3) and stay close to the leaders.
Manitoba's Dennis Thiessen and Alberta's Jack Smart compare notes during action at the 2014 Canadian Wheelchair Curling Championship in Boucherville, Que. (Photo Morgan Daw)

Manitoba’s Dennis Thiessen and Alberta’s Jack Smart compare notes during action at the 2014 Canadian Wheelchair Curling Championship in Boucherville, Que. (Photo Morgan Daw)

In other games on Wednesday afternoon at the Club de Curling Boucherville, Newfoundland and Labrador’s Joanne MacDonald (2-3) stole her way to an 8-4 win over Darryl Neighbour of B.C., and Manitoba’s Dennis Thiessen (2-3) trailed 6-2 after two ends, but battled back to steal two points in the final end for a 10-7 victory over New Brunswick’s Michael Fitzgerald (0-5). Earlier in the day, MacDonald got her first win of the round robin, scoring five points in the seventh end to defeat Nova Scotia 10-3. Quebec stole one in the eighth end to squeak out an 8-7 win over New Brunswick, while Manitoba lost 6-3 to Saskatchewan, and Alberta defeated B.C. by a score of 10-6. The round robin continues on Thursday with games at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. (ET) at the Club de Curling Boucherville. Live streaming of the event is available at https://www.ustream.tv/channel/wcblog2
Draw results and other event information is available at www.curling.ca and www.curling.ca/2014wheelchair-en.
Since the inaugural Canadian championship in 2004, British Columbia has four titles – in 2007 (skip Darryl Neighbour), 2008 and 2009 (skip Jim Armstrong) and 2010 (skip Gary Cormack). Team Canada (skip Chris Dawe) has three victories (2004-2006) while Manitoba (2011) , Saskatchewan (2012) and Quebec (2013) have each won once.