Five teams undefeated after Day 1 of CW Curling Championship

Five teams, including three on the women’s half of the draw, went 2-0 to open the 2024 Canada West Curling Championship at Saville Community Sports Centre.

Both Alberta and Calgary teams earned two victories each, as did the Victoria women, separating themselves from Brandon, Lethbridge, and Regina.

The Golden Bears and Dinos lead the men’s side at 2-0, one game up on Regina and Victoria.

Powering the host and four-time defending champion Golden Bears to a pair of victories was skip Johnson Tao, whose heroics led Alberta to a tight 7-6 win over Regina in the game of the day. Tied at six with hammer in the 10^th end, Tao had to draw to a piece of the button against three Regina stones in the four-foot to secure the thrilling win.

“Lot’s of positives for us today, Regina is a really tough team. Coming out on top tonight is a big confidence booster,” said the Bears skip. “Usually we you need to go 4-1 or 5-0 to win the banner, so every win counts.”

The Golden Bears led 6-4 through eight, with a score of two from Regina leveling the game heading into the final end. A nearly perfect draw from Cougars skip Josh Bryden with his last forced Tao to make an extremely difficult shot for the win.

“We knew this game would come down to the last couple shots, so we were happy to be given that chance. The sweepers and Jaedon (Neuert) judged the shot perfectly,” said Tao of the game-winner.

The Pandas and Dinos cruised to victory on Day 1, combining to win their four games by 32. The Pandas and undefeated Vikes will face off in Draw 3 tomorrow morning, in a game with massive championship and national’s implications.

Draw 3 of the 2024 CW Championship gets underway at 11:00 a.m. MT on Saturday, with all six sheets streamed live on Canada West TV.

MEN’S STANDINGS

WOMEN’S STANDINGS

DRAW 1

DRAW 2