(Dec 20, 2008) -- Three skins matches result in four sudden-death shootouts
CAMROSE, Canada -- Slowly but surely, North America is creeping back into contention at the 2008 Continental Cup of Curling.
And with all three Saturday morning skins games going down to sudden-death draws to the button - with one needing to be repeated - the Edgeworth Centre crowd has exploded into high gear.
So did Team North America's star shooter, Kevin Martin, and team coach Russ Howard, who watched the action and raved about the results.
"Sport doesn't get any better than that," Martin enthused.
"I don't care what sport you're talking about. That was great shooting. It's amazing sh*t."
Team North America shaved 10 points off a 36-point Team World lead and now trails 97-71. The first team to score 201 points wins the Cup.
Arms raised and fists pumped as Canada's John Morris outdrew Scotland's David Murdoch for a 15-5 victory in the mixed skins game. Morris had called - and made - an amazing triple-bump to lie two on his last shot of the game, forcing Murdoch, the two-time defending European champion, to throw a tap to tie the match and force the draw-off.
"Only John Morris would call that," said Martin. "I didn?t even see it. Nobody saw it."
On a neighbouring sheet, Craig Brown of the United States engaged China's Fengchun Wang in a draw-off after their men's skins match also finished in a tie. Wang covered the pin on his effort, and Brown followed suit, forcing a repeat of the showdown with other teammates involved.
Chinese third Rui Liu then missed covering the pinhole by 0.3 centimetres - three millimeters - and when U.S. third Rich Ruohonen nailed the pin for the victory, the arena erupted in cheers.
"That was interesting," said Brown, who has scored three key victories in the competition.
"I've never played in a game where it comes down to draws... and then we have to do it twice!"
Team World's sole points came in women's skins, as China's Bingyu Wang won the draw-off against Debbie McCormick of the United States for a 10-10 tie. McCormick, the 2003 world champion, made a triple-takeout on her last shot of the game to score one and just missed holding her shooter in play for the outright win.
Morris teamed with Saskatoon's Marliese Kasner and Lana Vey, along with Edmonton's Blake MacDonald. Murdoch was supported by Switzerland's Carmen Schaefer, Sweden's Anna Svard and Norway's Christoffer Svae.
"I guess (the competition) is a little more intense than I expected," said Morris.
"There?s a lot of pride involved here. We're in this thing."
Afternoon play (6:00pm ET on TSN) features six games of singles competition, with the evening draw (9:30pm ET on TSN2) set to unleash a second round of skins play - men's, women's and mixed.
Martin will take on Murdoch in singles play, while the evening's highlight match will see four of Canada's defending world champions - Martin and second Marc Kennedy teaming with Jennifer Jones and Dawn Askin - battling a World team boasting four skips: Norway's Thomas Ulsrud, Sweden's Anette Norberg and China's Fengchun Wang and Bingyu Wang.
All matches are available for international online viewing at: www.tsn.ca shortly after each domestic television broadcast.
The Continental Cup is a unique team tournament in which the first squad to score 201 total points from a variety of curling disciplines wins the Cup, and the lion's share of over $88,000 in prize money. |
