SWIFT CURRENT, Sask. – Jamie Koe of Yellowknife Curling Club is no stranger to national championships.
The veteran skip, who has represented the Northwest Territories on the big stage numerous times, opened the 2023 Canadian Mixed Curling Championship on Sunday morning at Swift Current Curling Club with an 8-7 victory over Peter Van Strien’s team from Iqaluit, Nunavut.
Koe had built a 5-2 lead after four ends, but Van Strien scored four in the fifth to make a game out of it. Koe scored two in the sixth and stole one in the seventh and then hung on for the win.
Koe’s team includes third Margot Flemming, second Cole Parsons and lead Megan Koehler.
In other opening draw action in the 14-team event, Paul Flemming’s team from Halifax, N.S., edged Shaun Meachem’s Saskatchewan crew 8-6, Pierre-Luc Morissette’s Quebec squad from Trois-Rivières beat Terry Miller’s Yukon foursome 8-4, and Evan Van Amsterdam’s Alberta crew from Edmonton Cameron de Jong’s B.C. team from Victoria 8-6.
In the afternoon draw, Scott McDonald’s Ontario team defeated Yukon 8-5, Trevor Bonot of northern Ontario edged Tyler Smith of Prince Edward Island 5-3, Kyle Kurz’s Manitoba squad rocked Keith Ryan of Newfoundland and Labrador 11-4, and Charles Sullivan of New Brunswick thumped Nunavut 12-2.
The championship runs until Nov. 11.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2023.
