ESTEVAN - The Estevan Curling Club gave young curlers another opportunity to shine during the Southern Plains Co-op U18 and U15 bonspiels on the weekend.
The U18 division had three teams, with the Heidi Fradette rink that competed at the recent U18 girls' provincial tournament, along with the mixed curling team from Lampman School and a team from the Estevan Comprehensive School.
Team Fradette finished first in the round robin with a 2-0 mark. Lampman was second at 1-1 and ECS was third at 0-2.
Lampman defeated ECS in the semifinal, and Fradette knocked off Lampman in the final.
Five teams were entered in the U15 division, with three from the Estevan Curling Club, one from Lampman and one from Carievale. Each team played three times on Saturday and then there was a playoff. The Hot Shots out of the Estevan Curling Club beat Team Lampman in the final.
The Carievale Cougars defeated The # Ones, competing out of the Estevan Curling Club, in the bronze-medal game.
The Sweepers, who were the other team out of the Estevan Curling Club, finished fifth.
The U15 division used triples, which Curling Canada has adopted to encourage more young people to take up the sport. Teams are comprised of three players instead of the traditional four, and each curler throws two rocks in an end.
It also features a different scoring system. Instead of awarding points for each end, they play three sets of two ends. A team is awarded points if they win a set, and the third set is worth more than the first two, creating a greater opportunity for a comeback.
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The Last Chance qualifier for the SaskTel Tankard men's provincial curling championship was held from Friday to Sunday in Prince Albert.
The Allan Walter rink, competing out of the Lampman Curling Club, went 1-3 at the triple-knockout elimination tournament.
The event started well for the Walter rink, as they won 7-2 over Team Krepps out of Maidstone. Walter stole two in the third and scored two in the ninth, and the two teams shook hands after nine ends.
The next game was a 7-2 loss to Daymond Bernath out of the Nutana Curling Club in Saskatoon. Bernath scored three in each of the second and fourth ends to lead 7-1, and Walter conceded after the sixth end.
The next game was an 8-1 loss in four ends to Dylan Derksen from the Sutherland Curling Club, also in Saskatoon. The Derksen rink scored five in the first end. Walter's lone point was in the second end.
The final game was a 6-5 loss to Michael Carss, also out of Saskatoon. Carss scored twice in the sixth and once in the eighth to lead 6-3. Walter scored one in the ninth and stole one in the 10th.
Other team members were third Tyler Corbin, second Jess Olson and lead Ty Olson.
This year's Tankard will be held Jan. 30-Feb. 4 in Saskatoon.
