Note: In order to help accommodate deadlines for national and provincial media outlets, the following press release summarizes the second, third and fourth draws of the Masters of Curling. This evening’s fifth robin draw is scheduled to take place tonight at 8:30 p.m. ET. Following its conclusion, an updated press release, featuring the tournament’s official standings will be circulated.
NEWS RELEASE
Howard, Martin and Gushue Headline Unbeaten Teams at the Masters of Curling
Ferbey and Ursel also undefeated at the season’s first Capital One Grand Slam of Curling event
WATERLOO, ONT., November 13, 2008 – Glenn Howard (Coldwater, Ont.), Kevin Martin (Edmonton, Alta.) and Brad Gushue (St. John’s, Nfld.) headline a group of five teams that sit atop of the leaderboard with records of 2-0 following the first four draws of the Masters of Curling, the first leg of the men’s Capital One Grand Slam of Curling series, taking place at the Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex.
Also perfect through two games are four-time World Champion Randy Ferbey
(Edmonton, Alta.) and Bob Ursel (Kelowna, B.C.) .
Aiming for his third consecutive Masters of Curling championship, Howard’s team shot 100 per cent en route to sliding past Kerry Burtnyk (Winnipeg, Man.) 7-2 for their eighth straight victory at the event.
“The guys made everything in front of me and it was one of the better games we played this year,” said Howard, the 2007 World Champion. “We didn’t give Kerry much and when we did get in trouble, we seemed to get out of it.”
Leading 4-2 after four ends, Howard put the game out of reach in the fifth by executing a draw for three points.
Howard previously won the Masters of Curling in 2006-07 and 2007-08. Since the inception of the Capital One Grand Slam of Curling series in 2001-02, no skip has won one of the series’ events in three consecutive seasons.
Martin also picked up his second win today after defeating Thomas Ulsrud (Oslo, Norway) 6-3. The reigning World Champion led from start to finish after scoring a pair of points in the first end.
With the win, Martin avenged an 8-2 loss to the Norwegian skip earlier this season during the finals of the Olso Cup in Norway.
“You don’t want to lose to same guy twice in a row,” said Martin. “It’s
tough to change that around. If teams get some momentum behind them, they
tend to beat you quite a few times in a row. This was a really important
game for us. They beat us pretty bad in Oslo so we definitely wanted to
come back strong today.”
Gushue picked up his second win this evening after defeating Switzerland’s Ralph Stöckli (Ittingen, Switzerland) 8-4.
Facing-off against a squad coached by his former Olympic teammate Russ Howard (Moncton, N.B.), Gushue took control of the game early, scoring three points in the opening end after converting an open draw to the eight-foot circle.
“The three points in the first end was very big,” said Gushue. “Ralph played very well in the first two games and to get off to a lead, it gives you a bit of a cushion and allows you to make a couple of mistakes. You don’t really want to but it does give you that cushion.”
With the loss, Stöckli’s team dropped to 2-1.
Earlier in the day, Gushue ousted Reid Carruthers (Winnipeg, Man.) 7-2.
Ferbey improved his record to 2-0 with a convincing 8-1 win over American
Craig Brown (Madison, Wisconsin). After scoring three points in the
opening end, Ferbey picked up a pair of points in both the second and third
ends to pull away. Overall, Ferbey’s squad has outscored its opponents 16-3
through its first two games.
Ursel won a pair of games today to move to the top of the standings. The Kelowna-based skip started his tournament this morning with a 6-5 come from behind victory over Wayne Middaugh (Midland, Ont.) and continued his strong play with a 5-1 decision over Joel Jordison (Moose Jaw, Sask.).
For a complete overview of this evening’s results, click here.
For a complete overview of the Masters of Curling standings following Draw
4, click
here.
Featuring a total of 18 rinks, this evening’s round robin play at the Masters of Curling concludes tonight at 8:30 p.m. ET with Draw 5. A schedule for Draw 5 can be found by clicking here.
Friday’s draw times for the Masters of Curling are set for 10:00 a.m., 1:30 p.m., 5:00 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. ET respectively.
The top eight teams following the conclusion of round robin play qualify for
the tournament’s quarterfinals on Saturday, November 15 at 3:00 p.m. ET.
The Masters of Curling features a total purse of $100,000. The tournament’s winning team will receive a maximum of $25,000.
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 Capital One
Located in Toronto, Ontario, Capital One has offered Canadian consumers a range of competitive MasterCard® credit cards since 1996, when the company first introduced the Platinum MasterCard® in Canada. Capital One Canada is a division of Capital One Bank, a subsidiary of Capital One Financial Corporation of McLean, Virginia (NYSE: COF).
About Insight Sports Ltd.
Insight Sports Ltd. is a leading North American sports media and entertainment company which owns, creates, aggregates and distributes sports and entertainment content across multiple platforms, including broadcast television, events, on-line, mobile, in-arena and video on-demand. Among its event assets, Insight Sports owns and operates the Capital One Grand Slam of Curling (www.worldcurlingtour.com), a series of eight high-profile men’s and women’s events that feature Canada’s deepest and strongest curling fields.
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