SASKATOON -- The final four has been decided at the Canadian U18 Men’s and Women’s Curling Championship.
On the women’s side, Nova Scotia’s Cassidy Blades will face Ontario’s Katrina Frlan in one semifinal, while the other will see B.C.’s Ava Arndt take on Alberta’s Abby Desormeau.
Blades defeated Quebec’s Summer St. James 10-5 in her semifinal, with Frlan taking a 10-3 win over New Brunswick’s Kate Gaines.
Arndt booked her spot in the semis by defeating Alberta’s Alena Yurko 10-4, Desmoreau took a 9-2 win over Manitoba’s Caitlyn McPherson.
Saskatoon’s Renee Wood lost 6-4 to McPherson in the first round of the playoffs and will take on Manitoba’s Karys Buchalter in a placement contest. That contest takes place at 8:30 a.m.
Moose Jaw’s Kaylee Hogeboom will play for 13th place when she takes on Northwest Territories’ Reese Wainman at 12:30 p.m.
In the men’s draw, Nova Scotia’s Zach Atherton will take on Alberta’s Peter Hlushak and Ontario’s Tyler MacTavish will do battle with Quebec’s Zachary Janidlo.
Atherton found himself in a battle in his semifinal, scoring two in the final end to defeat Moose Jaw’s Dayne Heisler 5-4. Hlushak also found himself in a close one, picking up a deuce in the eighth to down Manitoba’s Nash Sugden 7-5.
MacTavish turned in an impressive defensive performance to take a 5-1 win over Manitoba’s Logan Zacharias, Janidlo scored a pair in the eighth to defeat Quebec’s Raphael Tremblay 5-4.
Each of the semifinals will take place at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday, with the winners advancing to the gold medal game at 4 p.m., with the bronze medal contest taking place at the same time.
Esterhazy’s Brandon Weiss -- who lost 5-3 to Heisler in the first round of the playoffs -- will play Alberta’s Austin Hennig in a placement game, while Heisler will do the same against Sugden. That contest will take place at 8:30 a.m.
The semifinals will be broadcast on Curling Canada's Youtube channel, and you can also keep up with the scores at www.curling.ca/scoreboard.
