Top seeds still unbeaten at Manitoba men’s curling playdowns

All of the top seeds are still undefeated to start the Viterra Championship in Portage la Prairie for the Manitoba men’s curling title.

The first two days of the bonspiel went pretty much according to plan as the top five seeds all won again on Thursday to advance to A-Event playoff qualifying games.

Top seed and defending champion Reid Carruthers (Granite) had an easy time against Kelly Marnoch (Carberry) with an 8-1 victory. Second seed Jordon McDonald (Assiniboine Memorial) had a pair of three-enders as they won their second straight game 9-3 over Daniel Birchard (Pembina). Third seed and last years finalist Braden Calvert (Fort Rouge) picked up an 8-2 win over Cale Dunbar (Brandon). Fourth seed Jacques Gauthier (West St. Paul) stole deuces in back-to-back ends in a 13-9 triumph against Justin Richter (Beausejour). And fifth seed Brett Walter (Assiniboine Memorial) had a one-sided 10-3 victory over Jace Freeman (Virden).

All five seeded teams have advanced to A-Side qualifying games as they try and nail down one of the eight available spots in the playoff round.

The first four playoff qualifiers will be determined in the 8:30 a.m. draw on Friday. Carruthers will face Jeff Stewart (Gladstone) for a playoff spot, while McDonald is matched against Steve Irwin (Brandon), Calvert takes on Sean Grassie (Deer Lodge), and it’ll be Gauthier versus Walter in the other matchup.

By the end of Thursday’s play, the original 32-team field will be chopped in half with a double-knockout format. Dunbar, Stefan Gudmundson (Steinbach), Mike Mahon (Granite), Jeremy Sundell (Holland), Sean Boyle (Neepawa), Dean Dunstone (Granite), and Greg Todoruk (Dauphin) were all eliminated on Thursday with a second defeat.

The four teams still standing at the end of the playoff round advance to the championship round. The final is scheduled for 3 p.m. on Sunday at Stride Place.