Saturday August 24, 2024
EMILIO EKUBA AND EMILY McNAMARA WIN SP MIXED PAIRS CHAMPIONSHIP
A total of 22 teams entered this year. After the two morning games, only four teams had perfect 2-0 records, with Dave Sullivan and Jenny Wong leading the pack with a +20 differential.
After lunch, Dave and Jenny suffered their first loss and tumbled to 4th and Roger Tremblay and Lisa MacLean took over pole position heading into the final game as one of only two teams with 3-0 records. Going in to the final game with a big lead in differential over Emilio Ekuba and Emily McNamara, Roger and Lisa just needed a win against Sharyn Collis and Dave Griffiths to clinch the title.
But Sharyn and Dave proved to be stubborn opposition, defeating Roger and Lisa who then faced an agonizing wait to see if they could hold on to the top spot.
Emilio and Emily had won their first three games after coming from behind in each of those games. In game two it took a 4 in the last end to overtake their opposition, and they repeated the late heroics again in their third game with a 3 in the last end to edge the game 10-9.
In their final game, they were tied going into the final end, but they kept their nerve to win by a single point that gave them a 4-0 record and the 2024 Mixed Pairs title.
Roger and Lisa had to settle for the second place prize money, Janis Ballantyne and Darrell Becker’s 3-1 record earned them third place, three differential points ahead of the 2023 winners, Rob Berridge and Lisa Blake.
Above: Emilio Ekuba and Emily McNamara
Above L-R: Lisa MacLean/Roger Tremblay (2nd); Janis Ballantyne/Darrell Becker (3rd); Lisa Blake/Rob Berridge (4th)
Past MIXED PAIRS winners:
2023 – R. Berridge/L. Blake
2022 - G. Mason/L. MacLean
2021 – G. Mason/J. Lawson
2019 – G. Mason/J. Lawson (aka Gender Neutral Pairs)
2018 - B. Hutchinson/Y. Sabanskis
2017 – N. Wilson/C. Young
2016 – M. Hilson/P. Shaw
2015 – R. Beaulieu/P. VanderLey
2014 – B. Hoadley/J. Duke
2013 – J. Parkes/J. Stooshnov
2012 – L. Kennedy/J. Sinclair
2011 – K. Kipp/M. Hilson
2010 – L. Kennedy/J. Sinclair
2009 – A. Nieuwold/L. Goodeve
2008 - J. Bell/J. Matthews
2007 – D. Hoadley/B. Hoadley