Three teams tied for first in women’s play; Manitoba’s Robertson undefeated on the men’s side

Manitoba’s Kelly Robertson is enjoying his first trip to the national senior men’s championship leading the round robin with an unblemished record following two more victories Monday. The Neepawa skip defeated NB’s Wade Blanchard 8-6 in morning action with a three count in the 10th end. In the afternoon matches, he again had 10th end magic grabbing a deuce to edge NS’s Scott Saunders 5-4. The Manitobans sit alone on top with a 5-0 record. Close behind at 4-1 are Newfoundland & Labrador’s Jeff Thomas and Alberta’s Brad Hannah.  Hannah knocked off the previously unbeaten Brad Heidt of Saskatchewan 10-5 in Draw 6 helped out by steals of two in both the 3rd and 4th ends. In Draw 5, however, Hannah’s unbeaten record came to a halt when he gave up three points in the 10th end to NB’s Wade Blanchard who earned a hard fought first win of the tournament. Thomas and his St. John’s rink had a good day and a pair of wins; a last stone 6-5 victory over Northern Ontario’s Eric Harnden in Draw 5 followed up with an 8-7 victory over Heidt in Draw 7. Heidt and Quebec’s Robbie Maclean are at 3-2. Four teams are at 2-3 including Blanchard, ON’s Guy Racette, Harnden and NS’s Scott Saunders. George Hilderman of Whitehorse, Greg McAulay of Richmond, BC and PEI’s Bill Hope are at 1-4. The feature match-up Tuesday will see Alberta’s Hannah facing off against Robertson.
Heidi Hanlon of New Brunswick

Heidi Hanlon of New Brunswick

Three teams are tied for top spot in the women’s section of the World Financial Group Canadian Seniors. NB’s Heidi Hanlon continued her hot streak after an opening draw loss to Manitoba. Hanlon’s has reeled off four consecutive wins including two Monday. She dropped previously unbeaten Diane Foster of Alberta 10-5 with a steal of four in the 10th end then stopped fellow Maritimer Nancy Delahunt (Colleen Jones throwing fourth stones) of NS 8-6 in an evening match-up. Keeping pace are Ontario’s Joyce Potter and Saskatchewan’s Delores Syrota. Potter’s Ottawa foursome made an amazing comeback against Lynn Noble of BC. Potter was down 9-1 at the 5th end break but rebounded with a pair in the 6th end and then stole seven points over the next 5 ends including a steal in the extra end for a remarkable 10-9 win. In the evening draw, Potter made short work of PEI’s June Moyaert winning 9-3 in 8 ends. Syrota meanwhile, has quietly moved up the leaderboard with an 8-5 win over Alberta and an 11-4 thumping of NL’s Laura Phillips. There are also three teams at 3-2. AB’s Foster, who dropped both games today and Northern Ontario’s Barbara Ward and Nova Scotia’s Delahunt who each split their pair of games. Four teams are at 2-3: Sandy Penkala of Yellowknife, Moyaert, Noble and Manitoba’s Popovic. Quebec’s Odette Trudel won her first game of the tournament 7-5 over Penkala while Phillips remains winless. The feature match-up Tuesday will be between NB and SK. Full results are available at https://www.curling.ca/championships/seniors/draw-schedule/