P.E.I.’s Birt rink will not qualify for the playoffs at the Scotties

P.E.I.’s Suzanne Birt rink has not qualified for the championship pool at the 2021 Scotties Tournament of Hearts.

Team Birt dropped a 9-5 decision to British Columbia’s Corryn Brown in the final draw of the round-robin schedule Thursday night. The result left both teams with records of 4-4 (won-lost).

A win by the Birt rink, which lists Montague and Cornwall as its home clubs, would have guaranteed the P.E.I. representative at least a spot in a tiebreaker on Friday morning. The 18 teams comprise two nine-team pools and the top four at the end of round-robin play advance at the Canadian women’s curling championship.

Birt’s teammates are third Marie Christianson, second Meaghan Hughes, lead Michelle McQuaid and alternate Kathy O’Rourke. Mitch O’Shea coaches the rink.

At the Markin McPhail Centre at Canadian Olympic Park in Calgary, P.E.I. led 2-1 after two ends and 3-2 following four. B.C. scored deuces in the fifth and sixth ends to take a 6-3 lead. P.E.I. answered with back-to-back singles to close to within 6-5, but British Columbia put three on the board in the ninth and ran P.E.I. out of rocks in the 10^th.

Both teams curled 72 per cent. Christianson led all curlers at 88 per cent.

RELATED:

• P.E.I.’s Team Birt rallies to stay alive at Scotties Tournament of Hearts
• P.E.I.’s Birt rink drops high-scoring game to Fleury's wild-card team
• P.E.I.’s Suzanne Birt rink back on winning track after outlasting Newfoundland and Labrador
• Quebec rallies late to steal a win from P.E.I.’s Birt rink at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts
• UPDATED: Team Birt off to a 2-0 start at Scotties
• P.E.I.'s Suzanne Birt rink drawing on experience, momentum in its third straight appearance at Scotties Tournament of Hearts
• Hughes and McQuaid are excelling at the front-end positions for Birt rink
• Summerside natives O’Rourke and Birt enjoying playing together for the first time in their careers
• Birt, MacKenzie rinks sweep their way to P.E.I. Scotties, Tankard titles
• Birt, London rinks to decide P.E.I. Scotties Tournament of Hearts title in O’Leary