KAMLOOPS, February 28…Calgary’s Cheryl Bernard clinched first place in Section A on the women’s side at the Strauss Canada Cup with an 8-7 win over Sherry Anderson, Thursday evening at the Interior Savings Centre.

Bernard thus remained the only undefeated women’s team, now at 4-0, which, combined with her 8-5 triumph earlier in the day over Winnipeg’s Jennifer Jones, meant that her team has qualified for the cross-over Page 1 vs 1 game on Saturday morning, regardless of how she fares in a final round robin match on Friday against Heather Rankin.

The Cup results this week have been quite a turnaround for the 41-year-old Bernard, who was 0-5 at the 2005 renewal, then 1-4 last year.

Jones, whose 10-game win streak (eight at the Scotties and her first two games here) was snapped by Bernard, got back to her winning ways in a big way, thumping Edmonton’s Kristie Moore, 10-1.   That moved the 2-time Canadian women’s champion to 3-1, with her final round robin game tomorrow against Edmonton’s Cathy King.

With the loss, Saskatoon's Anderson fell to 2-2 and now needs to win Friday and  Jones to lose in order to force a tiebreaker, while King and Harvey are still seeking their first wins at 0-3.

Things tightened up in Section B when Kelowna’s Kelly Scott handed Calgary’s Shannon Kleibrink her first loss, 6-3, making both teams tied with 3-1 marks.  Saskatoon’s Stefanie Lawton is at 2-1, Moore fell to 1-3 while Rankin is 0-3.

There are still two unbeaten teams on the men’s side.   Edmonton’s Kevin Koe is 3-0 in Section A, chased by Winnipeg’s Jeff Stoughton and Pat Simmons of Davidson, Saskatchewan, both now 2-2 after Simmons edged Stoughton 7-6 in Draw 7.  Kevin Martin and Mike McEwen are at 1-2.

Coldwater’s Glenn Howard continues to lead Section B at 3-0, but Brad Gushue of St. John’s is now 3-1, after defeating the Reid Carruthers team, skipped by Charley Thomas, 6-5.   Howard plays McEwen Friday morning, then Gushue in the afternoon.

Edmonton’s three-time Cup winner Randy Ferbey is on the ropes at 1-2, Carruthers is 1-3 and Kerry Burtnyk of Winnipeg is still seeking his first win at 0-3.

Round robin play concludes on Friday with draws at 8:30 am, 1:30 pm and 6:00 pm PT.

The top two in each pool then advance to a crossover Page Playoff system, whereby the group winners meet in one game (winner to final, loser to semi-final), while the group runners-up meet in another game (winner to semi-final, loser eliminated).

CBC-TV will televise the 1 vs 1 Page Playoff games on Saturday, March 1 and the women’s and men’s finals on Sunday, March 2, in a special five-hour telecast.   CurlTV (www.curltv.com) is also providing event coverage to its subscribers.

The winners not only receive $25,000, but more importantly, also become part of the pool of 16 men’s and 16 women’s teams eligible for the 2009 Tim Hortons Canadian Curling Trials, which will determine Canada’s representatives for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver.

The winning teams also earn berths into the 2008 Continental Cup in Camrose, Alberta as members of Team North America and return as the defending Canada Cup champions when the event moves to Yorkton, Saskatchewan next year.  

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