MEDICINE HAT, May 8, 2007…More than half of the tickets for November’s Continental Cup of Curling have already been sold, reports Host Committee Chairman Des Grant.
“We’re very pleased with ticket sales at this point,” said Grant. “When we last hosted this unique competition in 2004, we started selling tickets in December, 11 months before the event. This time around, we didn’t get underway until February.
“So with sales already at 2,259 (Arena capacity is 4,026), we’re very confident we’ll have close to a sellout again. As you know, Medicine Hat staged the most successful of the four Continental Cups to date and as a committee we are doing our utmost to equal that feat.
“Obviously, we’re very excited about today’s news regarding Monsanto as the presenting sponsor,” continued Grant. “They like the event and so do we. We’re also very thankful to all of the local sponsors who have come on board and are such an important component to ensure the event’s success. I might also mention that the committee is still looking for more volunteers. We’ve got about 180 people right now but we’d like another 80 or so.”
The Continental Cup, presented by Monsanto, will hold its fifth edition, December 13-16 at the Medicine Hat Arena.
Patterned somewhat after golf’s Ryder Cup, it brings together six teams representing Team North America and six teams representing Europe in a four-day competition involving 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.
Team North America and Team Europe are currently knotted at two wins apiece. In 2002, Team North America edged Team World in the inaugural ‘Cup’, 207-193, decided by a thrilling men’s final Skins game between Kevin Martin and Peja Lindholm, which went down to the last rock.
In 2003, Team Europe turned the tables, winning 208-179 in Thunder Bay while in 2004, Team North America recaptured the title by a 228-172 score in Medicine Hat before a record four-day crowd of 42,317.
Last November in Chilliwack, it was Europe’s turn to even the score, winning 229-171, as all of the curling medallists from the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Turin, Italy participated.
The line-up for Team North America (four Canadian teams and two teams from the United States) has already been confirmed. Kelly Scott of Kelowna, Winnipeg’s Jennifer Jones, Edmonton’s Randy Ferbey and Coldwater’s Glenn Howard make up the Canadian contingent. Scott played in the 2006 Continental Cup while Ferbey played in the first three Cups.
Scott earned a berth by winning the 2007 Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Lethbridge (and subsequently the world women’s championship as well), while Howard won the 2007 Tim Hortons Brier in Hamilton (and also the Ford world men’s championship in Edmonton). Jones and Ferbey earned berths into the Continental Cup by winning the 2007 Strauss Canada Cup in Kamloops.
The United States will send their reigning champions…Todd Birr of Mankato, Minnesota, who finished third at the 2007 worlds, and Debbie McCormick of Madison, Wisconsin, the 2003 world champion who has competed in two previous Continental Cups.
Team Europe will be selected in the next month by the World Curling Federation, taking into account recent performances in International competitions.
CBC-TV, which owns the television rights for the Continental Cup, will offer live weekend coverage, including the women’s and men’s final Skins games.
The ‘Continental Divide’, the entertainment centre for the event, will be located in the Medicine Hat Curling Club.
Along with presenting sponsor Monsanto, the Continental Cup is supported by gold sponsors IKON and Parker’s Countrywide, silver sponsors Holmes Printing, Home Depot and Medicine Hat Co-op and bronze sponsors EventMax, Laurie Artiss and local media sponsors CHAT 94.5 FM, MY96.1 FM, CHAT Television and the Medicine Hat News.
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