MEDICINE HAT, December 14…North America grabbed 28 of 32 points Friday afternoon in Singles competition to open a commanding 76-28 lead at the Continental Cup, being presented by Monsanto.

North America won five of the six Singles matches, each worth four points, then snagged an eight-point bonus for highest aggregate (the sum of the scores of each of the six matches).

On the women’s side, North America victories were provided by Jennifer Jones and Debbie McCormick, while on the men’s side, the hosts swept all three matches.

The Singles competition changed in format this year from past Cups to become a team event, in the sense that each member of the team threw at least one of the required six shots…..Run Through, Draw the Button, Draw the Port, Raise, Hit and Roll and Double Takeout.  In previous Cups, one player threw all six shots.  Each shot was awarded points on a 1-5 basis, depending on the success of each, with a perfect game score being 30.

The Jones team defeated Europe’s Kelly Wood, 26-11, while McCormick took care of Liudmila Privivkova, 16-6.   Europe’s sole win was provided by Angelina Jensen of Denmark, who outscored Kelly Scott, 19-15.

The Randy Ferbey team dispatched David Murdoch, 24-19, Todd Birr took care of Andy Kapp, 21-18, while the Glenn Howard foursome notched a 26-19 win over Andreas Schwaller.

Thus, with a total aggregate score of 128-92, North America was also awarded the eight-point bonus.

The evening session at 6:30 pm MST features three more men’s games, when Murdoch goes against Ferbey, Kapp battles Birr and Schwaller faces Howard.  The eight-end games are each worth six points, with three points for a tie (no extra ends).

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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