B.C.’s Tardi cruises through first round at Canadian junior curling championship

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This article was published 22/01/2019 (2813 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – British Columbia’s Tyler Tardi finished off the first round of the Canadian junior curling championship with a 9-6 win over Alberta’s Desmond Young on Tuesday night.

Tardi, along with Sterling Middleton, Matthew Hall and Alex Horvath, shut out the competition in the first round with a 6-0 record.

“It’s our team dynamics,” said Tardi. “We’re having a lot of fun out here. We’re staying upbeat and that’s been a big part of it.”

Hall couldn’t agree more, and says that it shows in the team’s performance this week.

“We’ve really hit our stride,” said Hall. “We’ve been able to go out there and perform well in the first couple ends and get on top of our competition. We’re firing on all cylinders and it feels good.”

Meanwhile Saskatchewan’s Rylan Kleiter took down Yukon’s Trygg Jensen 10-2, and Greg Blyde of Newfoundland and Labrador beat Nunavut’s Javen Komaksiutiksak 12-3.

In Pool B men’s play, Vincent Roberge from Quebec defeated Nova Scotia’s Graeme Weagle 9-3, Northern Ontario’s Tanner Horgan took down Manitoba’s JT Ryan 7-4, and New Brunwick’s Jack Smeltzer snuck out a 9-7 win over Tyler Smith from P.E.I.

The top four teams from each pool will move into the championship pool beginning Wednesday, while the other teams will play in seeding pool games to determine the final standings.

Advancing from Pool A to the championship pool are Tardi (6-0), Kleiter (5-1) and, by virtue of having the best Last Stone Draw of the teams tied at 3-3, Blyde’s Newfoundland and Labrador squad.

In a tiebreaker for the fourth position are Ontario’s Sam Steep and Alberta’s Young. The loser of the tiebreaker will join Yukon (1-5) and Nunavut (0-6) in the seeding pool. The tiebreaker will be played at 9 a.m. Central and will be live streamed on Curling Canada’s Facebook page.

Heading to the championship round for Pool B, all with 4-2 records, are Quebec, Northern Ontario, Nova Scotia and Manitoba.

New Brunwick (3-3), P.E.I. (2-4) and Northwest Territories (0-6) will compete in the seeding pool.

On the women’s side in Pool A, Nova Scotia’s Kaitlyn Jones secured advanced with a 20-3 win over Nunavut’s Sadie Pinksen.

Northern Ontario’s Kira Brunton beat Ontario’s Thea Coburn 6-3. With both teams sitting at 2-3 a berth to the championship round was on the line.

In Pool B action, New Brunswick’s Justine Comeau locked up the 7-6 win over Manitoba’s Mackenzie Zacharias with a steal in end 10.

The teams advancing to the championship round from Pool A are Alberta’s Selena Sturmay (6-0), Sarah Daniels from British Columbia (5-1), Nova Scotia (4-2) and Northern Ontario (3-3).

Ontario (2-4), the host team skipped by Skylar Ackerman (1-5) and Nunavut (0-6) all move into the seeding pool.

Advancing to the championship round from Pool B are Zacharias (5-1), Laurie St-Georges from Quebec (5-1), Saskatchewan’s Sara England (4-2) and Comeau’s New Brunswick rink (4-2).

Newfoundland and Labrador’s Mackenzie Glynn (2-4), Lauren Ferguson from P.E.I. (1-5) and Tyanna Bain of the Northwest Territories (0-6) will all compete in the seeding pool.