The Northwest Territories stands alone atop the championship pool standings at 7-1 at the 2021 Canadian Mixed Curling Championship

A key head to head battle of 6-1 teams took place on Thursday evening to determine who would hold first place overall in the Championship Pool of the 2021 Canadian Mixed Curling Championship from the Canmore Golf & Curling Club in Alberta.

The Northwest Territories’ Jamie Koe (7-1; Yellowknife), alongside third Margot Flemming, second Cole Parsons, and lead Megan Koehler would be dominant in their draw 17 matchup over Ontario’s Mike McLean (6-2; Ottawa) to stand alone atop the Championship Pool standings. 

The Northwest Territories put up five points through four ends, all via the steal, on their way to a 7-0 win in seven ends.

In other Thursday action in the Championship Pool, draw 17 had Manitoba’s Alex Forrest (4-4; Winnipeg) defeat Saskatchewan’s Dean Grindheim (4-4; North Battleford) 6-5 while Northern Ontario’s Trevor Bonot (5-2; Thunder Bay) fell 5-3 to British Columbia’s Sébastien Robillard (5-2; Kamloops).

Draw 16 saw the Northwest Territories defeat Saskatchewan 7-5 while Ontario downed Manitoba by a score of 7-3. New Brunswick’s James Grattan (5-2; Fredericton) inched out Québec’s Jean-Michel Ménard (5-2; Etchemin/Des Collines) 5-4. 

In draw 15 seeding pool action, Nova Scotia’s Craig Burgess (3-4; Truro) defeated Prince Edward Island’s Jamie Newson (1-6; Summerside) by a score of 6-5. The Yukon’s Terry Miller (2-5; Whitehorse) defeated Alberta’s Craig MacAlpine (1-6; Edmonton) 7-5 while Newfoundland and Labrador’s Keith Ryan (3-4; Labrador City) downed Nunavut’s Peter Van Strien (0-7; Iqaluit) 9-5. 

The 2021 Canadian Mixed Championship will continue on Friday with draws at 10:00 a.m., 2:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. (all times Mountain).

Live scoring, standings and statistics for the 2021 Canadian Mixed are available at www.curling.ca/scoreboard/

Round-robin and playoff games are being streamed on Curling Canada’s YouTube channel. CLICK HERE for the broadcast schedule.

This story will be available in French as soon as possible at www.curling.ca/2021mixed/nouvelles/?lang=fr