Two-person championships begin today in O’Leary

A total of nineteen teams are entered in the provincial event

O’LEARY – The 2020 The Ferguson-Logan Montague Funeral Home 2020 provincial stick curling championship gets underway Tuesday morning at the Maple Leaf Curling Club in O’Leary.

There are 19 teams entered – 15 in the Open Division (two men, two women or a man and a woman per twoperson team) and four in the Women’s Division.

Two-time defending champs Elaine Hughes and Etta Reid from Cornwall are back to defend the women’s title while only one half of the Roddie MacLean and Paul Field team from Cornwall is back to defend the Open Division title.

MacLean is not competing this year but Field is back, this year with his wife, Bernie Field, as his teammate.

The Open Division is divided into two pools for the round-robin portion of the championship, with the top three teams from each division advancing to the playoffs.

The women’s teams play a double round robin after which the first-place team advances to the championship to await the winner of a semifinal between the second- and third-place teams.

There are draws Tuesday and Wednesday at 9:00, 10:15 and 11:30 a.m., 1:15, 2:20, 3:45 and 5 p.m.

The final round-robin games, followed by the playoffs, are scheduled for Thursday, starting with a 9 a.m. draw and concluding with the championship finals at 2:30 p.m.

In addition to the provincial titles, at stake in the championships are berths in Maritime and Canadian championships. The top four open teams and top two women’s teams advance to the Maritime championships from March 13 to 15 in Woodstock, N.B. The top four open and women’s teams are eligible to enter the Canadian championships in Regina, Sask., from April 2 to 5.