MEDICINE HAT, December 15…For the first time in the history of the Continental Cup, a winning side was determined after only three days of play, prior to Sunday’s two final Skins games.
Saturday night at The Arena, North America clinched the fifth edition of the Cup, taking 73 of 90 available points in Skins competition to conclude the evening session with 210 points, nine more than needed to win its third title over Europe since 2002.
The end came late, but quickly, as all three Skins games fashioned eighth end dramatics.
The first game to finish was the men’s Skins between Randy Ferbey and Andy Kapp. Ferbey led 11-10, with a nine-point skin on the line. When Kapp tried but missed an angle raise with his last, Ferbey’s counters gave the skin to North America, making the final score 20-10 and moving the overall score at that moment to 180-80.
Then it was over to the Mixed Skins game, where Glenn Howard and Andreas Schwaller were playing the eighth end, worth 15 points after a seventh end carryover. Howard made a raise double takeout with his last, forcing Schwaller, with hammer, to attempt a draw to the button, just to force the game to a tie-breaking procedure (closest to the button).
But Schwaller’s stone appeared to pick halfway down the sheet, handing the 15 point skin to North America on a steal, making the final score 24-6 and moving the host point total to 195.
Now, all eyes were on the women’s Skins, where Debbie McCormick led Liudmila Privivkova, 14-1, with another 15-point skin on the line, once again because of a seventh end carryover.
Privivkova, unfortunately, had her final stone float between two others while trying to rub and roll, leaving McCormick, the 2003 world champion, a soft tap and roll to count a deuce and net the skin. The game score read 29-1, the overall score 210-80.
“I actually didn't know that shot was to win (it all), so I didn't really think about it,” said McCormick. “We had a great feeling all weekend. This is my third Continental Cup, so I'm really excited to get a gold medallion and get my name on the trophy (for the first time).”
McCormick, who had been a member of Team North America when it lost to Europe in 2003 and 2006, enjoyed a banner three days. She teamed with Scott Pfeifer to win a Mixed Doubles in the first draw on Thursday, twice defeated Denmark’s Angelina Jensen in women’s team games, won her Singles competition over Liudmila Privivkova before skinning her Russian rival again Saturday night.
Added six-time Brier winner and four-time world champion Randy Ferbey, “It feels pretty good. Obviously, we knew we had a pretty good team here, and it was just a matter of time. At the same time, I'm kind of disappointed for the event that it's over so quick. We still have some good matches (Sunday) that don't mean much. From that perspective, it's not real good.”
Said North America captain Pat Ryan, himself a three-time Brier and two-time world champion. “It takes the pressure off. I can't complain. If you can win, you win as fast as you can and get it over with. They (the players) were all great; they played like a team's supposed to. Just a great bunch of people, we had a lot of fun.”
“What can I say,” said a disappointed Europe captain, Rhona Martin, who won Olympic gold in 2002. “We were beaten by the better team. We knew it would be an uphill struggle. We had two teams that have never played skins in their life. We just had to keep fighting and make them have to play shots. I'm pretty gutted that this is the way it turned out. But from the first day, we knew, everybody here knew, that it was going to happen. It was a case of when, not if.”
On Sunday, starting at 10:30 am MST/12:30 pm EST, live on CBC-TV, the final women’s and men’s Skins games, each worth 55 points, will feature Europe’s Kelly Wood facing off against North America’s Kelly Scott, while David Murdoch takes on Glenn Howard.
The Continental Cup involves four disciplines within the sport, each worth a designated number of points - Team Games (72 points), Mixed Doubles (36 points), Singles (32 points) and Skins Games (260 points). The first side to score 201 points is declared the winner. Each member of the winning side receives $2,000, while the losing side members get $1,400 each from the $88,400 total purse.
Prior to this week, both sides were knotted at two wins apiece. North America took the inaugural ‘Cup’ in Regina in 2002 and the 2004 renewal in Medicine Hat, when an attendance record of 42,317 was set. Europe prevailed in 2003 in Thunder Bay and last year in Chilliwack, British Columbia.
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