NEWS RELEASE
Martin to Shoot For Second Straight BDO Classic Canadian Open Title
Defending champion to face Team Adams in the season’s first Capital One Grand Slam of Curling final
QUEBEC CITY, December 1, 2007 – Defending champion Kevin Martin (Edmonton, Alta.) will shoot for his second consecutive, and fourth overall BDO Classic Canadian Open title tomorrow against Shawn Adams (Halifax, N.S.) in the finals of the season’s first Capital One Grand Slam of Curling event, taking place at the new Pavillon de la Jeunesse in Quebec City.
The finals of the 2007 BDO Classic Canadian Open will be shown live on CBC Television on Sunday, December 2 from 1:00 p.m. ET to 4:00 p.m. ET.
Martin’s team reached the championship game with an 8-3 victory over Quebec-based skip and crowd favourite Martin Ferland (Cap-de-la-Madeleine, Que.) while Adams reached his first Capital One Grand Slam of Curling final with a 6-3 win over Wayne Middaugh (Toronto, Ont.).
With the
victory, Martin will aim to win his fourth consecutive Capital One Grand
Slam of Curling title. In 2006-07, Martin’s squad fell in the semi-finals
of the season’s first Capital One Grand Slam of Curling event, the Masters
of Curling, before winning the BDO Classic Canadian Open, The National and
the TYLENOL® Players’ Championship.
Canada’s all-time leader in Capital One Grand Slam victories with 10, Martin will also have the opportunity to win consecutive titles at a Capital One Grand Slam of Curling event for the first time in his career.
Leading 4-2 after four ends, Martin took control of the game in the fifth end with a hit and roll to score four points. Down by five points, Ferland conceded after the sixth end. The loss was Ferland’s second to Martin in the tournament after falling 5-4 in the preliminary round.
In the other semi-final, Team Adams set the tone early, scoring a pair in the first end en route to the victory. Overall, Adams’ squad enjoyed an exceptionally strong shooting performance, curling at a 91 per cent efficiency rate.
In the afternoon’s quarterfinals draw, Adams pulled off the day’s lone upset, defeating previously unbeaten Randy Ferbey (Edmonton, Alta.) 10-7 in a game that featured several high scoring ends. After curling at an 83.3 success rate heading into the quarterfinals, Ferbey’s squad shot just 76 per cent as a team in the opening playoff round. Adams’ rink was led by their skip’s 92 per cent efficiency rate as the team shot a combined 83 per cent to move into the semi-finals.
Ferland team’s continued to perform well in front of the local fans as the
Quebec-based rink scored two points in the eighth end for a dramatic 6-5
victory. Trailing 5-4 after seven ends, Ferland’s rink caught a break when
Peter Corner (Brampton, Ont.) narrowly missed a tough double takeout shot.
The miscue allowed Ferland a free draw into the rings for two points and the
victory.
In the remaining two quarterfinal matches, Middaugh defeated Glenn Howard’s
(Coldwater, Ont.) squad for the second time in the tournament as the
two-time World Champion scored a 6-4 victory over the reigning World
Champion.
Martin avenged his 7-1 round robin loss to Jeff Stoughton, winning by a score of 7-4.
The BDO Classic Canadian Open features a total purse of $100,000.
For a complete overview of this evening’s results, click here.
Held annually since 2001-02, the Capital One Grand Slam of Curling is a series of eight premier men’s and women’s events that boast Canada’s deepest and strongest curling fields.
The Capital One Grand Slam of Curling is one of a select few events that are tied to the Canadian Curling Association's qualifying process for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver. Through their performance in the Capital One Grand Slam of Curling events, rinks can earn points towards securing a berth at the 2009 Canadian Trials.
About Insight Sports Ltd.
Insight Sports Ltd. is a leading sports media and entertainment company which creates and distributes sports and entertainment content across multiple platforms, including broadcast television, DVD, on-line, mobile, in-arena and video on-demand.
Insight Sports operates three specialty television networks: GOLTV Canada (www.goltv.ca), a 24-hour soccer network; WFN: World Fishing Network (www.wfn.tv), North America's only network devoted entirely to fishing; and GameTV (www.igametv.com), the only Canadian television network that gives viewers a chance to win great prizes every day, simply by tuning in. The company owns and operates the Capital One Grand Slam of Curling, the most prestigious events on the World Curling Tour and Ford Major League Gaming Canada (www.mlgcanada.com), an affiliate of Major League Gaming and the largest organized league and international sanctioning body for professional video gaming. Insight Sports also manages Wayne Gretzky’s official website, www.gretzky.com and holds a significant interest in the NHL Network (www.nhlnetwork.ca), a 24-hour hockey channel.
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