Staff
Devlin native Mike Badiuk and Travis Showalter of Nestor Falls would be perfectly fine with a lack of suspense come tomorrow.
Badiuk, at third, and Showalter at lead have been on their games to help Dylan Johnston’s Thunder Bay rink to a 4-0 record and a three-way tie for first at the provincial men’s curling championship in Kenora.
Johnston is keeping pace so far with defending Olympic gold-medalist Brad Jacobs (Sault Ste. Marie) and two-time Canadian and world champ Al Hackner (Thunder Bay), who also were both perfect after four draws.
It’s a three-game drop-off to the next closest teams in the field, with only the top three advancing to the playoffs.
In yesterday’s action, Johnston opened with an 8-3 win Chris Glibota (Sault Ste. Marie).
He then used a deuce in the 10th to subdue defending Northern Ontario champ Jeff Currie (Thunder Bay) by a 7-5 count.
Johnston and Hackner went head-to-head earlier today (the outcome was unavailable at press time).
Then tonight, Johnston will tangle with fellow Thunder Bay skip Ben Mikkelsen—one of four teams who finished yesterday tied for fourth at 1-3.
The final will go Sunday, with the winner advancing to the Tim Hortons Brier on Feb. 28-March 8 in Calgary.
