KENORA, Ont. – Krista McCarville and Krysta Burns were likely the two favourites entering the Northern Ontario women’s curling championship – and they’re playing like it.
McCarville, who downed Hailey Beaudry 12-0 to open play at the Kenora, Ont. event, easily erased a 1-0 deficit against fellow Thunder Bay skip Nicole Westlund-Stewart on Wednesday night and went on to capture her second straight match by a 9-2 count.
Burns, who hails from Sudbury, had a slightly more difficult task in her second match of the tournament, finding herself trailing Beaudry 6-1 after three ends.
But Burns battled back with a pair in the fourth, then stole a single in the fifth and four more in the sixth to escape with an 8-6 win.
Burns and McCarville are both 2-0 and sit atop the round-robin standings.
On the men’s side, reigning champion Brad Jacobs made easy work of Sault Ste. Marie’s Chris Glibota, winning their first match of the triple-knockout tournament 8-1.
Jacobs will take on Sandy McEwan on Thursday. McEwan handed Thunder Bay’s Kory Carr’s foursome their first loss, edging the veteran skip 5-4. Thunder Bay’s Trevor Bonot, who beat Brian Adams Jr. 8-1 earlier on Wednesday, will take on Tanner Horgan on Draw 4 play. Horgan downed Kenora hopeful Michael Szajewski 9-0 on Wednesday evening.
McCarville takes on Thunder Bay’s Jennifer Briscoe on Thursday morning and Stratton’s Jackie McCormick in the evening draw. Briscoe gets Burns on Thursday night, while Westlund-Stewart’s only match of the day comes in the evening draw against Sudbury’s Bella Croisier (0-1).
