Teams battling for position at Wheelchair Championship

You can be sure that every team taking to the ice this afternoon at the 2017 Canadian Wheelchair Curling Championship at the Club de curling Boucherville, Que., had their eyes on the standings. A logjam of five teams sat tied at the top with 4-2 records, and the results of Draw 7 would go a long way to determining who will have the advantage going into the final day of the round robin on Friday. When the afternoon’s action came to a close, it was Manitoba’s Dennis Thiessen and Alberta’s Jack Smart who had taken over first place, both with 5-2 records. Thiessen stole a deuce in the seventh end to win a 10-3 battle over Quebec’s Benoit Lessard, while Smart bounced back from a morning loss to Saskatchewan to defeat Nova Scotia’s Trendal Hubley-Bolivar 8-2. New Brunswick’s Mike Fitzgerald’s came into Draw 7 trailing the leaders with a 3-3 record, but an 11-2 win over Ontario’s Mike Munro pulled him up into a five-way tie for second place.

Mike Fitzgerald, New Brunswick (François Lacasse photo)

Saskatchewan’s Gil Dash also made a move to challenge the leaders in Draw 7 but came up just short against Northern Ontario’s Doug Dean, who stole the final end for an 8-5 victory. So with two draws left in the round robin, Quebec, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick and Ontario share second spot with a 4-3 record, joined by Newfoundland and Labrador’s Cecilia Carroll, who defeated British Columbia’s Gerry Austgarden 6-5 in an extra end to keep the leaders in sight. The round robin continues on Friday at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. (all times EDT) Scores, standings and team information can be found on the event website, at www.curling.ca/2017wheelchair/.

Gerry Austgarden, British Columbia (Jean-Baptiste Benavent photo)