(Nov 14, 2008) -- Four teams to compete in a tiebreaker Saturday morning to determine the final two playoff qualifiers at the season’s first Capital One Grand Slam of Curling event
WATERLOO, ONT., November 14, 2008 – After completing round robin play with perfect 5-0 records, Kevin Martin (Edmonton, Alta.) and Randy Ferbey (Edmonton, Alta.) secured the top two seeds heading into this weekend’s playoff rounds at 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.
Martin concluded the preliminary round by defeating Wayne Middaugh (Midland, Ont.) 6-2 while Ferbey notched his fifth win after sliding past Greg McAulay (Richmond, B.C.) 7-4.
Defending Masters of Curling champion Glenn Howard (Coldwater, Ont.) secured the third seed in the quarterfinals following a 4-3 victory over Mike McEwen. Howard’s victory improved his record to 4-1 on the tournament.
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.
Reigning Olympic gold medallist Brad Gushue (St. John’s) will enter the playoff round as the tournament’s fourth seed after dropping a 4-1 decision to Jeff Stoughton (Winnipeg, Man.) in his final round robin game to finish at 4-1.
Stoughton’s victory over Howard enabled the Winnipeg-based skip to join Joel Jordison (Moose Jaw, Sask.), Reid Carruthers (Winnipeg, Man.), Thomas Ulsrud (Olso, Norway), Kerry Burtnyk (Winnipeg, Man.) and Kevin Koe (Edmonton, Alta.) in a group of six teams that concluded round robin play with a record of 3-2.
Based on their superior shootout scores, Jordison and Carruthers secured the fifth and sixth playoff seeds respectively.
The remaining four teams will compete in a tie-breaker tomorrow morning at 9:30 a.m. ET to determine the final two seeds for the quarterfinals.
Ulsrud and Koe will face-off in one tie-breaker, while Stoughton and Burtnyk will meet in the other.
Tomorrow’s quarterfinal match-ups for the Masters of Curling are as follows. Note: Number in bracket denotes playoff seed.
The Masters of Curling– Quarterfinal Schedule
(1) Kevin Martin (Edmonton, Alta.) vs. (8) Tie-breaker winner – TBD
(4) Brad Gushue (St. John’s, Nfld.) vs. (5) Joel Jordison (Moose Jaw, Sask.)
(3) Glenn Howard (Coldwater, Ont.) vs. (6) Reid Carruthers (Winnipeg, Man.)
(2) Randy Ferbey (Edmonton, Alta.) vs. (7) Tie-breaker winner – TBD
CBC Television will air live coverage of the quarterfinals beginning at 3:00 p.m. ET. The event’s semi-finals are set for later that evening at 7:00 p.m. ET and will air on CBC’s digital channel, BOLD.
The finals of the Masters of Curling will take place on Sunday, November 16 at 1:00 p.m. ET and will be shown live on CBC Television.
CBC Sports will also provide live broadband coverage of all playoff draws, exclusively at www.cbcsports.ca/curling.
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. |
