Local rinks shut out of Tankard play

BY JOHN DECOSTE

jdecoste@kentvilleadvertiser.ca

NovaNewsNow.com

There will no doubt be lots of local curlers around when play gets underway at the Keith’s Tankard provincial men’s curling championship Wednesday in Wolfville.

The trouble is, very few of them will actually be on the ice competing.

All six Valley teams in the field failed to make it through the South Zone qualifier and none of them chose to contest the Challenge Round ‘last chance’ qualifier Jan. 25-27 in Truro, from which the final two rinks in the 16-team Tankard field were determined.

Chris Sutherland and Brent MacDougall, both of the Mayflower club in Halifax, were the two qualifiers from the Challenge Round.

That doesn’t mean, however, there won’t be any local representation at the Tankard.

Mike Robinson, formerly of Windsor and now curling out of Dartmouth, and defending champion Mark Kehoe, formerly of Glooscap and Windsor and now curling out of Mayflower, are two of 16 skips in the field, both having qualified from the North Zone.

As well, Curt Palmer of Coldbrook is playing third for the Brian Rafuse rink and Ben Blanchard of Berwick is third for Jeff Hopkins. Craig Burgess of Berwick is playing second for Shawn Adams and Donnie Smith of Berwick is the lead and Richard Barker of Falmouth the alternate for the Kehoe team.

The Tankard event will be decided using Page playoff rules. Following a modified triple-knockout competition to qualify four teams, the top two qualifiers will play off with the winner advancing directly to the final.

The third and fourth qualifiers will also play off, with the winner of the 3/4 game then playing the loser of the 1/2 game to determine the second final participant.

Play is set to get underway Feb. 6 at the Wolfville Curling Club, with the opening draw at 1 p.m. The competition concludes with the championship final Sunday.