(Nov 15, 2008) -- Top seeds Kevin Martin and Randy Ferbey fall in the quarterfinals of the season’s first Capital One Grand Slam of Curling event
WATERLOO, ONT., November 15, 2008 – Glenn Howard (Coldwater, Ont.) will aim for his third consecutive Masters of Curling title tomorrow when he faces off against Kevin Koe (Edmonton, Alta.) in the finals of the first leg of the men’s Capital One Grand Slam of Curling series, taking place at the Waterloo Memorial Recreation Centre.
The championship game is a rematch of last year’s final, when Howard beat Koe 7-3 in Saskatoon, Sask.
Howard defeated Jeff Stoughton (Winnipeg, Man.) 6-4 in this evening’s first semi-final while Koe edged Brad Gushue (St. John’s, Nfld.) 3-2 to advance to the tournament’s championship game.
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 the championship match, exclusively at www.cbcsports.ca/curling.
Tied at 2-2, Howard seized a key two points in the fourth end after tapping a Stoughton rock and rolling his final stone into the button.
After Stoughton scored a point in the fifth to trail by one, Howard responded with a draw to the button for two points in the sixth end to gain an insurmountable 6-3 advantage.
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.
With the victory, Howard will also aim to win his fifth consecutive tournament to start the season.
“To win the first four, and here we are in the final of another one, it’s just surreal,” said Howard. “You love to dream of it, but you just don’t ever expect it.”
In the other semi-final, Gushue and Koe engaged in a defensive battle that featured a total of five blanked ends.
“I don’t know if I’ve been in a game that’s been that low scoring,” said Koe. “Brad was throwing corners in every end and that’s just kind of the way the ends played out. We were happy to play that way and they seemed like they were happy too.”
Trailing 1-0, Gushue grabbed his first lead in the sixth end after executing a straight hit for two points to move ahead by one.
After both teams blanked the seventh end, Koe’s team won the match on the game’s final shot as fourth Blake MacDonald made a dramatic double takeout and roll to earn two points.
With the victory, Koe will have an opportunity to capture his first Capital One Grand Slam of Curling title.
In this afternoon’s quarterfinals, Koe used a three-point sixth end to eliminate previously unbeaten Kevin Martin (Edmonton, Alta.) 6-5 while Howard rebounded from an early 2-0 deficit to edge Reid Carruthers (Winnipeg, Man.) 6-4.
In other quarterfinal results, Stoughton powered past Randy Ferbey (Edmonton, Alta.) 5-2 to hand the four-time World Champions their first loss of the tournament. Gushue advanced to the semi-finals with a tight 4-3 win over Joel Jordison (Moose Jaw, Sask.).
Earlier in the day, Koe and Stoughton each qualified for the quarterfinals after winning their tie-breaker games. Koe moved into the final eight with a 5-4 come from behind victory over Thomas Ulsrud (Oslo, Norway) while Stoughton posted a 7-6 extra end win over Kerry Burtnyk (Winnipeg, Man.).
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. |
