With one round to play at the Seagram’s Whisky Manitoba Curling Club Championships, one team has a confirmed spot in the playoff round, the winner of two upcoming games are assured of a playoff spot, and the loser of those games plus eight other teams can make the playoffs with the right sets of wins & losses across the next two draws.

On the women’s side, only Kara Balshaw’s Thistle team is a ‘lock’ to make the playoffs. In their six-team pool, Team Balshaw is a perfect 4W-0L while four teams have 2W-2L records. Those four teams will be playing for wins and hoping for losses by the other teams to help them make the playoffs. In those games Laurie MacDonnell (Beausejour) plays Lisa Dickson (St. Vital) – both have 2W-2L records, so the winner has a chance. Balshaw plays former champion Tracy Andries (Fort Rouge) – Andries has a 2W-2L record, so she has a chance with a win. Tiffany Armstrong (Dauphin) is also at 2W-2L and has a chance to make the playoffs with a win over winless Sheri Horning (Burntwood).

Like Balshaw, Fort Garry’s Jennifer Clark-Rouire is still perfect at 4W-0L. Their last game is against former champion Lori Pelissier (Thistle) whose 3W-1L record will put them ahead of Team JCR in the standings, IF they win. Former champion Stacey Irwin (Brandon) also has a 3W-1L record and can improve to 4W-1L with a win over Kendall Kohinski (Neepawa) whose record is 1W-3L.

The only thing that is clear on the men’s side of the competition is that the winner between Andy Stewart (Stonewall) and Brett Walter (Elmwood) will advance. Both teams have 3W-1L records as the 2:30PM Saturday game gets underway. In the same pool David Bohn (AMCC) has a 3W-1L plays Randy Neufeld (La Salle) whose record is 2W-2L so for both teams a win is essential if they hope to make the playoffs.

In the other men’s pool, Derek Anderson (Gimli) and Kyle Forsyth (Dauphin) have 3W-1L records, so they have have win-and-you’re-in games. Forysth plays Grant Brown (Burntwood) whose 2W-2L records gives his team a chance, if they win. Anderson plays Corey Thompson (Deer Lodge) who is at 1W-3L. Like Brown, Ryan Hyde (Portage) has a 2W-2L record and still has a chance, with a win over Andrew Irving (Ft Rouge) who is also 1W-3L.

The top two teams in each pool advance to playoffs. In case of a two-team tie for second, there will be one playoff game. In a three-way tie, one team will be eliminated based on their pre-game button draws.