'Road to the Roar' - Thursday

Over the course of yesterday, the two ‘A’ Finals played themselves out, with Stoughton and Webster punching their tickets to Edmonton. Webster defeated Kelly Scott 9-7, off the strength of a 4 Point first end. It took Stoughton 11 to get past Pat Simmons, after a key steal of 1 in the 9th.

Men’s Side
So Stoughton is through, dropping Simmons into the ‘B’ Side, which will finish up today. Appleman/McEwen and Simmons/Middaugh make up the two semi-finals, with 1 berth on the line. I like whoever carries the Simmons/Middaugh Semi to take the Final tonight. Regardless, all three of the losers from this mini-bracket have one more chance left, as they will filter down to the ‘C’ Side after their losses.

Jeff Stoughton is moving on...

Speaking of the ‘C’ Side…that’s where 2006 Gold Medalist Brad Gushue finds himself after a disappointing loss to Appleman yesterday afternoon. With two strikes against him, he will need to roll off three straight wins in order to get to Edmonton. Another stumble, and there will be no repeat in Vancouver. The road through will not be easy for Gushue, as he faces Menard this morning then, pending a win, the loser of the aforementioned Simmons/Middaugh matchup.

It’s a bit disappointing that Gushue and Menard line up on the ‘C’ Side, with the loser going home. Both of these teams are solid enough to warrant inclusion in the ‘Roar of the Rings’, but only one…and maybe neither…will be there.

Women’s Side
The news of the day would probably still have to be Crystal Webster’s defeat of Kelly Scott in the ‘A’ Final. I suppose that its evidence that a hot team can do just about anything. Webster managed to win 4 in a row to get through to the ‘Roar of the Rings’, passing Holland, Middaugh, Homan and Kelly on the way.

Webster over Kelly for the 'A' Side

As a result of her loss, Kelly dropped onto the B-Side, but quickly rebounded with a semi-final win over Larouche last night. That sets up a ‘B’ Side final this afternoon between herself and Ontario’s Krista McCarville. After an opening round loss to Cathy King, McCarville has won three straight coming through the ‘B’ Side, so Kelly will again have to watch for a team on a roll.

The ‘C’ Side is populated by a number of teams down to their last chances. Rankin, Middaugh, Larouche, Homan, Anderson, King and Holland are all fighting for those two last births. By the end of today, 4 of those teams will be headed home.

Links
Official Event Site
Tournament Bracket