The opening draw at the Charlottetown Curling Complex is scheduled for 2 p.m., with the final set for Sunday at 7 p.m.
The winning rink in the provincial women’s curling championship, sponsored by Kruger Products and Curl P.E.I., will represent P.E.I. at the national Scotties in Kingston, Ont., from Feb. 16 to 24.
The five rinks are last year’s champion Kim Dolan, Suzanne Birt, Kathy O’Rourke, Tammy Dewar and Lisa Jackson. Birt and O’Rourke are both Summerside natives.
Format
The teams will play a round-robin format, with draws Thursday at 2 and 7 p.m.; Friday at 11 a.m. and 4 p.m., and Saturday at 2 p.m. Opening ceremonies go Thursday at 6:15 p.m.
Tiebreakers, if required, follow Saturday at 7 p.m., and, if needed, Sunday at 9 a.m. The semifinal, between the second- and third-place finishers from the round robin, goes Sunday at 2 p.m., with the winner taking on the first-place team from the round robin in the championship game at 7 p.m.
There will be event and draw passes available at the door.
End-by-end results will be available at peicurling.com/Scotties.
Team profiles
Following is a look at the five competing teams:
Dolan
Dolan, a nine-time P.E.I. Scotties champ and a 2012 P.E.I. Curling Hall of Fame inductee, is again joined by Rebecca Jean MacDonald, her daughter Sinead Dolan and Michala Robison, who was alternate on her team last year.
Nancy Cameron, last year’s lead, is not competing this year.
O’Rourke
O’Rourke, a six-time P.E.I. Scotties winner, has returned to competitive curling this year.
O’Rourke led a rink that included Summerside natives Erin Carmody and Geri-Lynn Ramsay to a silver-medal finish at the 2010 Scotties in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., and then took some time off. Carmody and Ramsay are now curling in Alberta for the Crystal Webster rink.
O’Rourke retains Tricia Affleck from her 2010 rink at lead, with last year’s P.E.I. runner-up skip Meaghan Hughes throwing skip rocks, and Jackie Reid playing second stone.
Birt
Former world junior champion and six-time P.E.I .Scotties champ Birt returns this year with third stone Shelly Bradley and lead Leslie MacDougall. Her longtime teammate Robyn MacPhee (now Robyn Green) took this year off to plan her recent wedding. Sarah Fullerton, a three-time P.E.I. junior champion, has replaced her at second stone.
Fullerton skipped her own team in the Scotties last year, losing to Dolan in an extra end in the semifinal.
Dewar
The only team entered this year that does not curl out of the host Charlottetown Curling Complex is the Dewar foursome from Montague.
Dewar led her team to a second-place finish behind O’Rourke in the 2010 P.E.I. Scotties championship, after the O’Rourke team broke a tie with a stolen deuce in the last end of the final.
Darlene London, Tracy Yorston-Campbell and Gail Greene are Dewar’s teammates.
Jackson
Lisa Jackson rounds out the five team field.
Her only previous entry as skip in the P.E.I. Scotties was in 2010, and she returns this year with a team that includes Carolyn Coulson and Melissa Morrow from last year’s Donna Butler rink, and Hillary Thompson from last year’s Fullerton team.
Round robin
Round-robin draws for P.E.I. Scotties:
Thursday, Jan. 24
2 p.m.
Sheet 3: O’Rourke vs. Dolan.
Sheet 4: Jackson vs. Dewar.
7 p.m.
Sheet 2: Dewar vs. Dolan.
Sheet 3: Jackson vs. Birt.
Friday, Jan. 25
11 a.m.
Sheet 2: O’Rourke vs. Jackson.
Sheet 4: Dewar vs. Birt.
4 p.m.
Sheet 2: Birt vs. Dolan.
Sheet 3: O’Rourke vs. Dewar.
Saturday, Jan, 26
2 p.m.
Sheet 3: Jackson vs. Dolan,
Sheet 4: O’Rourke vs. Birt.
