Monday afternoon’s opening draw at the Boucherville Curling Club witnessed a great display of teamwork and determination from Marney Smithies’ Team British Columbia #1 (1-0; Delta/Kelowna).
The new team began its campaign for gold at the 2026 Canadian Wheelchair Curling Championship with a 7-3 win over Martin Purvis’ Team Alberta (0-1; Calgary).
Smithies is joined on the ice by third/vice-skip Kevin Priebe, second Robert Pullen, lead Kim Egger, and coach Martin Matsutani.
“We are so excited just to be back at Nationals,” said Smithies. “We have two new players with our team this year. So, we were just excited to play against Alberta after last year when we lost to them. It’s a little bit more of an incentive, I think, to come out strong. We felt good after the first game.”
Smithies had a breakout performance at the 2025 edition of the tournament, where she led a team of rookies to three wins in a row to open the week.
Purvis had ended the rookie team’s round-robin experience with a decisive 7-4 win and forced them into a tough quarterfinal.
“We just want to get better and stronger and win some more,” said Smithies. “We’re taking this week one game at a time, and we’re trying not to look back too much.”
It was a close game through the first four ends this time, with a 3-2 score in favour of British Columbia at the fourth-end break. Purvis put the pressure on in the fifth end with lots of rocks in play.
Facing three Alberta stones in scoring position, Smithies made a crucial draw to the four-foot. After a missed hit with Purvis’ last stone, Alberta came out of the fifth end with only a single and a tied-up scoreboard.
The sixth end was where trouble really started for the Albertans who faced five opposition stones in the house. A couple great draws by Team Alberta left Team British Columbia having to settle for a double to close out the sixth end.
What all but sealed the deal was a steal of two for Smithies’ squad in the seventh end that turned out to be impossible to catch up to.
“To beat an experienced team like that for our first game ever at the Nationals? Yeah, we’re just pumped,” said Smithies. “We’re just ready to go.
“We’ve really put in a lot of time and effort, and we just are really jelling, I find. We’re working well together and we just love playing with each other.”
In other opening draw action, Team Ontario (1-0; Schomberg) outplayed Team Manitoba (0-1; Winnipeg) 10-5. On the next sheet over, Team Newfoundland and Labrador (1-0; St. John’s) came out on top over one of the hosts, Team Québec #2 (0-1; Québec City). Team Québec #1 (1-0; Magog), on the other hand, pulled out an 11-5 win over Team British Columbia #2 (0-1; Victoria), and Team Saskatchewan (1-0; Moose Jaw) is off to a winning start with a 5-4 win against Team Northern Ontario (0-1; Thunder Bay).
The 2026 Canadian Wheelchair Curling Championship will continue Tuesday at 10 a.m. (all times Eastern).
The playoffs begin on Thursday, April 30, at 3 p.m. and conclude on Saturday, May 2.
For the second year in a row, the championship is taking place alongside the Défi sportif AlterGo, an event that hosts nearly 6000 athletes with disabilities.
For live scores, team lineups, and schedule information, click here.
Tickets to the 2026 Canadian Wheelchair Curling Championship are free of charge. For directions to the venue, click here.
Live streaming is available on Wheelchair Curling Canada’s Facebook page.
