Norway takes Cathy Kerr final over Quebec as USA I fades

1st - Team Norway
 Jostein Stordahl, Terje Rafdal, Per Fagerhøi, Sissel Løchen, Ole Fredrik Syversen
with coach Thoralf Hognestad
.

Norway, playing without skip Rune Lorentsen who did not travel, took the $400 first prize at the 7th Cathy Kerr Memorial Spiel at the RA in Ottawa. They beat Chris Sobkowicz's national champions Team Cancade 7-3 in the pool cross-over semi-final, then faced Quebec, who handed USA I their first defeat 13-3 in the other semi.

2nd - Team Quebec
Johanne Daly, Sebastien Boisvert, Carl Marquis, Benoit Lessard
with coach Germain Tremblay

The  final went 9-5 to Norway; the margin, two in the 7th and a steal of two in the 8th.


Team Cancade edged USA I 6-5 for 3rd place.

3rd -  Team Cancade
George Horning, Chris Sobkowicz, Melissa Lecyer and Mark Wherrett
with coach Rob Lamb

Scores from the other cross-over games and results from all draws, plus team members, can be viewed HERE.

Final standings

Norway - gold
Quebec - silver
Cancade - bronze
USA1
USA2
Nfld & Lab
Cameron
Ilderton
Toronto
Sudbury
Bradford
Fraser

In the recreational division Quebec visitors Lenoxville prevailed over Michel with Simpson 3rd.

Lennoxville with coach/mentor Al Whittier
Winners of Recreational Division 2011 Cathy Kerr

Photos courtesy of Katie Paialunga's iPhone

USA 1 & Norway top their pools after round robin at Cathy Kerr

USA I, playing with just three members after Dave Palmer had to return home for a family emergency, went 5-0 in round robin play at the end of Day 2 of the 7th Annual Cathy Kerr Memorial Spiel at the RA in Ottawa, Ontario. They beat Ken Gregory's Bradford 6-3 and Newfoundland/Labrador 6-5.

Norway also went undefeated, topping their pool after dropping only a point in yesterday's tie with Toronto. Today they inflicted Quebec's only defeat, 8-5, and finished with a 7-5 defeat of Sudbury. In the absence of skip Rune Lorentsen, who did not travel with the team but who will lead them in Korea,  Jostein Stordahl has proved an effective replacement. The other members of the team have rotated positions but tomorrow will play Sissel Løchen at lead, Per Fagerhøi at 2nd and Terje Rafdal at 3rd.

Chris Sobkowicz's Manitoban Team Cancade, with recent implant Mark Wherrett playing 2nd, beat Ilderton 9-3 in the morning then piled on winless Team Fraser, 18-0 after 6 ends. Their alternate, George Horning, played on the Newfoundland/Labrador team replacing a player who fell ill.

Quebec rebounded from their morning loss by beating USA II 6-5 in the afternoon.

That set up top of the table cross pool match-ups of USA I vs Quebec and Norway vs Cancade at 9am, the winners playing for the $400 1st prize, and the losers playing for 3rd, at 2.15pm.

Tables after Round Robin

Pool A          Pool B
Norway  4-0-1   USA I       5-0
Quebec  4-1     Cancade     4-1
USA II  3-2     Ilderton    3-2
Cameron 2-3     Newfld/Lab  2-3
Toronto 1-3-1   Bradford    1-4
Sudbury 0-5     Fraser      0-5

Results from each draw can be viewed HERE. The schedule is available HERE

In the recreational division, visiting Lennoxville (3-1) from Quebec won both their games to top the table over Michel (2-2) Wong-Sing (2-2) and Simpson (1-3).

Quebec and USA I off to perfect start on Day 1 of Cathy Kerr

Ben Lessard's team from Quebec continued the run of form that saw them go unbeaten at last weekend's US Open, by posting a 3-0 start in Pool A on the opening day of the 7th Annual Cathy Kerr  Memorial Bonspiel in Ottawa, Ontario.

They beat host club organiser Bruce Cameron in the early morning (8.30am) draw 8-7 and then posted large margin wins over reigning Ontario provincial champion Chris Rees 8-1 and relative newcomers Sudbury 10-2.

In Pool B USA I were also unbeaten, topping the Manitoban national champions Team Cancade 8-1, before seeing off Ottawa's Fraser 9-4 and Ilderton 12-3.

The USA teams had struggled at their Open and the players have this event as a final opportunity to impress their coaches before Team USA 2012 is announced.

Norway's long-time skip, Rune Lorentsen, was unable to travel with the team, so everyone moved up a position. They won two games after an opening 7-7 tie with Chris Rees.

Tables after Draw 3

Pool A          Pool B
Quebec  3-0     USA I       3-0
Norway  2-0-1   Cancade     2-1
USA II  2-1     Ilderton    2-1
Cameron 1-2     Bradford    1-2
Toronto 0-2-1   Newfld/Lab  1-2
Sudbury 0-3     Fraser      0-3

Results from each draw can be viewed HERE. The schedule is available HERE

In the recreational division where all four games over the two draws ended within 2 points, Team Wong-Sing won both their games and Michel and visitors Lennoxville split while Simpson will have to wait another day.

CTV's cameras were on the ice this morning talking to Ottawa's Bruce Cameron and Richard Fraser. You can see the segment HERE. Click on the November 18 wheelchair curling link.

Ottawa hosts 7th Cathy Kerr Nov. 18-20 - world's largest bonspiel

The 7th Annual Cathy Kerr Memorial Spiel will take place next weekend at Ottawa's RA Curling Club with the first draw starting at 8.30 AM Friday.

With 12 teams registered for the Competitive Division and 4 more playing in the Recreational Division, the bonspiel is once again the largest wheelchair curling event in the world.

The field is headed by Team Norway, defending champions Team Quebec, Canadian champions Team Cancade from Manitoba and previous winners USA 1. Chris Rees brings his 2011 provincial champions, one of five Ontario teams plus teams from Sudbury, Newfoundland and Labrador and USA II that round out the field.

The recreational division is made up of Team Lennoxville (PQ) and three teams from the host Capital Wheelchair Curling Club.

The full draw schedule is HERE

Organisers would still welcome volunteers to clean and move rocks during games. If you can spare some time please contact Johanna at  613-521-0404

Quebec takes Cathy Kerr final after extra end

Quebec stole a point from USA1 in an extra end of the final to win the 6th Annual Cathy Kerr Memorial in Ottawa.

Quebec were down by 3 in the eighth but sitting 3 when skip Ben Lessard drew for the win with his last stone. The rock went through the house, forcing an extra end.

In the 9th USA1 had their own chance to win with their last rock. Quebec had a biter counting shot stone back 12, and USA skip Goose Perez had only to reach the rings for the victory, but his draw came up short. Goose's team lost their lead, Tammy Delano, after the first match. She had a nasty fall when her chair tipped over backwards. Sue, a an inexperienced but very game substitute, joined Jimmy Joseph and Bob Prenoveau to finish out the tournament.

Earlier USA1 had extended their unbeaten record with a semi-final win over Bruce Cameron's home-ice squad, while Quebec extended their perfect record with a win over Ken Gregory's Bradford rink.

Bradford later beat Cameron to take 3rd spot.

In the recreational division, Team Michel finished 1st, over Beaudin, then Quebec and Wong-Sing.

More details if and when available.

Unbeaten USA 1 and Quebec head into playoffs at Cathy Kerr

Wheelchair curling's largest event, the 6th Annual Cathy Kerr Memorial Bonspiel, with ten competitive teams and four more playing in the recreational division, is underway in Ottawa, Ontario.

The competitive teams, playing for $1400 prize money, were divided into two pools, and after the four game round robin, Team USA 1 and Team Quebec are unbeaten going into tomorrow's playoff rounds.

Group A                                     Group B

USA 1         8 points    Quebec   8 points
Bradford      5 points    Cameron  4 points
Thiessen      4 points    Rees     3 points
Newfoundland  3 points    Ilderton 2 points
Fraser        0 points    USA 2    2 points

On Sunday USA 1 plays Cameron, with the winner playing the winner of Quebec vs Bradford for the title.

Sunday Draw

Team USA 1 vs Team Cameron
Team Bradford vs Team Quebec
Team Thiessen vs Team Rees
Team NFL vs Team Ilderton
Team Fraser vs Team USA 2

Recreational

1st – Team Beaudin
2nd – Team Michel
3rd = Team Quebec
4th – Team Wong-Sing

Recreational Sunday Draw

1st vs 2nd place
3rd vs 4h place

Full house for 6th Annual Cathy Kerr Memorial Bonspiel

A full slate of 10 competitive and at least 5 recreational teams will be appearing for the 6th Annual Cathy Kerr Memorial Bonspiel at the RA Curling Club in Ottawa, November 19-21, making it the largest wheelchair curling competition in the world.


They are competing for $1,400 prize money. The competitive teams, playing in two divisions of five and guaranteed six games are: USA 1 and 2, plus teams from Newfoundland, Quebec and Manitoba, and the five Ontario teams that competed for their provincial championship last season - Cameron, Fraser, Rees, Bradford and Ilderton.

Dennis Thiessen, long-time 3rd to Chris Sobkowicz, is skipping his own Manitoba team. Jim Primavera joins Team Bradford, replacing Katie Paialunga who is taking a sabbatical from full time competitive curling.  Jim was one of the group of Ontarians chosen to form the original Canadian national team, and has returned from a three year retirement to play with Ken Gregory.

For Team Bradford, Debra Karbashewski replaces coach Dennis Moulding, and will share duties with Carl Rennick.

Team Fraser has lost the services of Deb Shestalo this year due to medical issues. She has been replaced by Stephan Tom as the alternate.

At least 5 teams are expected to play in the recreational division. Former Team Quebec coach Al Whittier is bringing a team from his Lennoxville club, with other teams made up from members of the Capital Wheelchair Curling Club.

USA beat Great Britain in Cathy Kerr final

Teams had an early start Sunday morning as the semi-finals of the the Annual Cathy Kerr Memorial Spiel began at 8.30am at Ottawa's RA Club.

Great Britain beat Chris Sobkowicz's Manitobans 6-3 and USA beat last year's Ontario champions Team Gregory 8-6.

In the afternoon final it was USA over Great Britain 9-4, with Gregory claiming bronze with a 9-5 win over Sobkowicz. Great Britain had Michael McCreadie calling the game from 3rd with Aileen Nielsen throwing last rocks. Team USA rotated their fifth player, who then skipped the USA 2 side.

In the recreation division Robert Michel was the winner and Aaron Wong-Sing was the runner-up. Both teams are from Ottawa.

The results mean that Bruce Cameron, Ken Gregory and Chris Rees all qualify for the Ontario ParaSports Winter Games to be held in Kingston in January 2010. Richard Fraser will be the alternate.

During the semis and finals, the other competitive teams curled for pride and experience so everyone had six games over the weekend.

Canada and USA line-ups for Cathy Kerr announced

Canada and USA have announced their teams for the 3 day Ottawa spiel starting tomorrow.

Canada I - Armstrong (skip), Neighbour, Forrest, and Cormack all from BC.
Canada II - Austgarden (skip BC), Yizek (AB), Sobkowicz (MB) and Gaudet (BC)

USA I - Perez (skip NY), Pierce (NY), Joseph (NY) and Kapinowski (NJ)
USA II - McDonald (Skip CA), Heathcoat (WI), Dorsett (PA) and Delano (NY)

Canadian coach Wendy Morgan was at pains to point out that their teams did not indicate who would represent Canada at the 2009 Worlds. That decision  will be announced next week so that the team can play together at the Richmond International spiel the following weekend.

Armstrong, Neighbour, and Forrest are favourites to make the cut, with Gaudet the alternate if coach Rea follows past practice of including two women. That would leave Torino gold medallists Austgarden and Cormack competing with Yizek and Sobkowicz for the remaining front end position. Performance this weekend will influence selection, but all things being equal the vote may go to Sobkowicz in a move away from an all-BC team. Have an opinion? Post it in the comments.

The USA trials last weekend was the major factor in deciding which 8 athletes would compete in Ottawa. USA I, bronze medallists  at the 2008 Worlds, appear to have weathered the challenge of 6 other athletes though a final decision on the 2009 Team USA will not be officially announced until December 14th, after the US Open.

Canada and USA meet in Ottawa at Cathy Kerr - Nov 28-30

The 4th Annual Cathy Kerr Memorial bonspiel has expanded to 3 days and 8 competitive teams plus 4 others who will play in the social division. Two teams from each of the national Canadian and USA squads will compete against the top four Ontario teams. Games will be held at the RA Centre and the Nepean Sportsplex. Click HERE for a full schedule (pdf)