MEDICINE HAT, December14…North America won two of the three women’s team games Friday morning at The Arena, to increase its lead to 48-24 over Europe after four draws of the Continental Cup, being presented by Monsanto.

For the second consecutive day, the women’s team game match-ups were the same. Wisconsin’s Debbie McCormick once again dismantled Denmark’s Angelina Jensen, 11-3.   Yesterday, she’d prevailed 8-3.

However, the other games had different results.  Reigning world champion Kelly Scott of British Columbia turned the tables on Scotland’s Kelly Wood, 5-4, after losing to the recent European championship runner-up and 2007 worlds bronze medallist, 8-6 on Thursday.

In the other match, Russia’s 2006 European and world junior champion Liudmila Privivkova avenged her 6-5 loss to Manitoba’s Jennifer Jones yesterday by eking out a similar 6-5 win today.

Up next at 2:00 pm MST is the Singles competition.   Differing from past Cups, it is now a team event, in the sense that each member of the team must throw at least one of the required six shots…..Run Through, Draw the Button, Draw the Port, The Raise, Hit and Roll and Double Takeout.

The pairings feature Jennifer Jones against Kelly Wood, Debbie McCormick against Liudmila Privivkova and Kelly Scott taking on Angelina Jensen.

The men’s Singles competition follows with Scotland’s David Murdoch facing Alberta’s Randy Ferbey, Andy Kapp of Germany meeting Todd Birr of Minnesota and Andreas Schwaller of Switzerland taking on Ontario's Glenn Howard.

The evening session at 6:30 pm MST features three more men’s games, this time with Murdoch against Ferbey, Kapp battling Birr and Schwaller facing 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. 

Both sides are 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.

CBC-TV will provide live coverage of the Continental Cup on Saturday, December 15 and Sunday, December 16, when the final men’s and women’s Skins Games take place.   CurlTV (www.curltv.com) is also offering event coverage to its subscribers.

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