KANGIQLINIQ/RANKIN INLET
Two teams from Rankin Inlet took a step closer to a national curling event in Rankin earlier this month.
Alayna Ningeongan of the Rankin Inlet junior girl's team looks for draw weight on her stone during play at the first leg of the two part Nunavut Territorial Junior Bonspiel in Rankin Inlet earlier this month. - photo courtesy of Sarah Arnold
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Rankin's junior girl's team went 2-0 at the first stage of the Nunavut Territorial Junior Bonspiel.
Iqaluit finished play at 1-1, while the Cambridge Bay girls were 0-2.
The second stage will be held in Iqaluit in December of 2013, with the winning team going to the M&M Meat Shop Junior Canadian Curling Championship in Liverpool, Nova Scotia, in January of 2014.
The Nunavut title will be won by the team with the most combined points after the two stages, with the points being awarded as three (Rankin), two (Iqaluit) and one (Cambridge) in order of finish.
The Rankin boy's team was unopposed, and will enter the December match with three points if another junior boy's team joins the fray.
Rankin's mixed team fell short at the Nunavut Mixed Curling Championship, falling to Iqaluit 3-0.
Rankin curling president Angela Dale said the competition was close among junior female play in Rankin.
She said the Rankin boy's team played a few exhibition games against the girl's squads in order to have some competition and keep sharp.
"Some of the games weren't as close as others, but there were a few close games among the three junior female teams," said Dale.
"The Iqaluit vs. Rankin game had to go to eight ends before Rankin came out on top.
"The average game during the weekend went six.
"We follow the Canadian Curling Association's rules, which means any time after six ends the skip of the trailing team can decide to shake hands if they think the other team is too far ahead to have a legitimate chance of catching up."
Dale said Iqaluit earned the right to send their team to the Canadian mixed nationals by beating Rankin three games to none.
She said although Iqaluit defeated Rankin three straight, the games were competitive.
"We definitely started out with a disadvantage because Iqaluit's ice is a lot different than ours.
"We lost the final game 8-3, and we were close to scoring, but we decided we probably weren't going to win that game and the next two, so we decided to shake."
