Dec 15, 2008 - 03:08 PM

By Jim Easson

AJAX -- An Ajax curler will vie for a provincial championship at his home Scarboro Golf and Country Club next month.

Ajax's Bob Turcotte and his Scarborough rink advanced to the Ontario Senior Men's Curling Championships after capturing the 'A' side of the regional senior men's playdown in Lakefield last weekend.

At provincials, from Jan. 14 to 18, eight teams will play a round-robin format to send the victor to the Canadian finals in Summerside, PEI next March.

Winning Canadian titles is nothing new for Turcotte, who has three previous Canadian senior championships to his credit.

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Skip Sandra Thain and her Annandale women's team of Barb Luffman, Joan O'Leary and Janet Alexander also competed in Lakefield in the OCA regional senior women's event, but were unable to advance. Thain's next OCA playdown is the women's Tankard, the two-team event, in Sutton on Jan. 24.

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Annandale has a team entered in the Fairfield Marriott Challenge Zone playdown in Uxbridge on Jan. 10. Adam Sonley will skip a team of Blair Metrakos, Steve Smith and Tim LaRoche.

The Ontario Curling Association event has no regional playdown, so two zone-winning teams head directly to the provincial, where 32 teams will meet with each rink guaranteed three games. The provincial playdown is in Brighton and Trenton from Jan. 23 to 25.

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Annandale will soon be closing the leagues for the Christmas break. The last league game of 2008 will be the Friday Mixed League on Dec. 19 and then ice maintenance will be completed for the curlers to restart on Sunday, Jan. 4.

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Team Glenn Howard, with Pickering resident Richard Hart at vice and Brent Laing and Craig Savill, is next scheduled to compete at the TSC Stores Tankard Zone 10 in Penetanguishene on Dec. 20 and 21.

Eight teams are entered in the double-knockout playdown to send two teams to the regionals in Elmira on Jan. 3 and 4.