LIVERPOOL, N.S. – B.C. skip Cameron de Jong made it to the men’s championship round at the Canadian junior curling championship Tuesday with a win it turned out he didn’t need.
De Jong’s rink defeated New Brunswick’s Rene Comeau 9-7 to finish with a 4-2 record in Pool B. They both qualified for the eight-team championship round, which begins Wednesday.
“It’s pretty amazing,” said de Jong. “I can’t wait for tomorrow.”
In the end, however, the Victoria skip didn’t need the win to advance, but the various tiebreaker scenarios hadn’t all been determined by the time his game began.
“I’m actually glad I didn’t know,” he said, after nailing the victory with a clutch outturn draw to the four-foot.
“It probably would have put more pressure on us out there. It’s easier not knowing, and having fate in your own hands.”
Also advancing to the championship round are Manitoba’s Braden Calvert (6-0 Pool A), Saskatchewan’s Tyler Hartung (4-2 Pool A), Ontario’s Ryan McCrady (4-2 Pool A), Northern Ontario’s Tanner Horgan (4-2 Pool A), Comeau (5-1 Pool B), Alberta’s Carter Lautner (5-1 Pool B) and Nova Scotia’s Robert Mayhew (4-2 Pool B).
Preliminary records carry over, with Pool A teams playing Pool B squads to determine which will move on to Sunday’s playoffs.
In other action Tuesday, the Yukon improved to 2-4 with Joe Wallingham’s 11-6 win over Kyle Holland of Prince Edward Island (1-5), while Alberta beat Nova Scotia 7-4.
On the women’s side, Quebec’s Camille Boisvert held off the Yukon’s Sarah Koltun 7-6 to grab the eighth and final berth into the championship round, which gets underway on Wednesday to determine the three teams for Saturday’s playoffs.
Both teams had finished with 3-3 records in Pool A.
Joining Quebec in the championship round are Alberta’s Kelsey Rocque (6-0), B.C.’s Kalia Van Osch (4-2), Saskatchewan’s Kristen Streifel (3-3), Ontario’s Molly Greenwood (5-1), Nova Scotia’s Mary Fay (5-1), New Brunswick’s Jessica Daigle (3-3) and Manitoba’s Meaghan Brezden (3-3).
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