Ontario’s red-hot men’s team meets Alberta in final

Greg Balsdon’s red-hot Ontario team moved to within one victory of running the table and winning the men’s title at the Dominion Curling Club Championship in Richmond, B.C., after defeating Northern Ontario’s Dale Dubinsky 6-4 in Saturday’s semifinals. Balsdon will face Alberta’s Wade Thurber today in the final, which goes as 2 p.m. local time. Thurber scored three in the final end to pull out a hard-fought 7-6 victory over Newfoundland & Labrador’s Paul Harvey in the other semifinal. Thurber, a once-a-week curler out of Red Deer, felt a bit fortunate to pull out the win with his three in the final end. “We got extremely lucky there,” said Thurber, who is supported in Richmond by third Harvey Kelts, second Rick Hjertaas and lead Eldon Rabb. “He (Harvey) wrecked on a guard with his final shot and gave me an easy hit. Actually I could have had four if I could have hit and stuck around.” Thurber said he was a little mad at himself in the seventh end when he missed a key draw that opened the door for Harvey to score three and assume a two-point lead. “After that I was just hoping to get out deuce in eight and go to an extra end, but the way the end developed we got out three and the win.” Thurber knows he has his work cut out against Balsdon, the only unbeaten team in the round-robin competition this week. “That’s a very good team,” he said of Ontario. “We’ll have to be at our best to beat them.” Balsdon, who is supported by third Jordon Keon, third Curtis Samoy and lead Kevin Roberts, cracked a four in the second end and then held off the Northern Ontario team. The Dominion Curling Club Championship is Canada’s first national championship for men’s and women’s curling teams at the club level. The event is fully funded and operated by The Dominion of Canada General Insurance Company. The Dominion is a proud supporter of curling across Canada and has been a strong supporter of the Canadian Paraplegic Association for over 13 years. Canadian owned and operated since 1887, today The Dominion is one of the country’s largest home, car and business insurers. Get to know The Dominion by visiting thedominion.ca.