Manitoba's Shannon Birchard clinched a spot in the women's final at the M&M Meat Shops Canadian junior curling championship Friday with an 8-7 win over the Yukon.
The win improved Birchard's record to 10-2 and moved her into a first-place tie with Alberta's Jocelyn Peterman, who scored three in the 11th end for an 8-5 win over New Brunswick in the morning draw. But the Manitoba rink advanced to final Saturday based on having defeated Alberta 9-5 during the round robin.
B.C.'s Kesa Van Osch finished in third at 8-4 after dropping a 9-5 decision to Nova Scotia in the morning draw. Van Osch will take on Peterman in the semifinal Saturday.
In the men's event, Alberta's Brendan Bottcher improved to 11-1 with an 8-5 win over New Brunswick in the morning draw. By virtue of his first-place finish, Bottcher advances directly to Sunday's final.
Northern Ontario's Brennan Wark, Manitoba's Kyle Doering and Nova Scotia's Stuart Thompson all finished tied for second with 9-3 records.
Thompson needed two in the 11th end to beat B.C. 8-6 in the morning draw before Wark beat New Brunswick 12-7 in the afternoon and Yukon beat Doering's rink 5-4.
Wark's rink clinched second after beating both Nova Scotia and Manitoba during the preliminary round to advance to the semifinal. Doering will face Thompson in a tiebreaker Saturday, with the winner facing Wark on Sunday.
