TIPPIN, BOTTCHER HEAD TO TRIALS
Julie Tippin of Woodstock, Ont., clinched the last women’s berth into the Roar of the Rings next month in Ottawa with an 8-3 win over Winnipeg’s Briane Meilleur on Sunday in Summerside, P.E.I. That will send Team Tippin to Ottawa as the ninth women’s team playing for the right to represent Canada at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. Earlier, in the B-side semifinal, Tippin won 8-5 over Edmonton’s Kelsey Rocque. Meanwhile, in men’s play, four-time Brier and world champ Glenn Howard and his Tiny, Ont., rink advanced to the B-side final with a 7-6 extra-end triumph over Greg Balsdon of Kingston, Ont. But Howard lost 9-5 in the final game in the men’s B-side final against Edmonton’s Brendan Bottcher. Bottcher joins A-side winner John Morris of Vernon, B.C., in the men’s field at the Roar of the Rings.