KAMLOOPS, February 29…Edmonton’s Kevin Koe clinched first place in Section A at the Strauss Canada Cup by humbling two-time Cup winner Kevin Martin, 7-3 in Friday morning’s draw.

The victory moved Koe’s team to 4-0 and a berth in the Page 1 vs 1 game Saturday morning, although he still has one game remaining in the round robin.   Koe took three in the third, then a pair in each of the sixth and eighth ends for the win.   The 2000 Canadian Mixed champion finishes up with Winnipeg’s Mike McEwen this afternoon.

In the other men’s game, three-time Cup winner Randy Ferbey of Edmonton kept his playoff hopes alive, improving to 2-2 by trouncing Winnipeg’s winless Kerry Burtnyk, 9-2.     Coldwater’s Glenn Howard also moved to 4-0 in Section B with a 7-3 dismantling of McEwen.

Thus, in Section A, behind the undefeated Koe are Jeff Stoughton and Pat Simmons at 2-2, with Martin and McEwen now 1-3.  Yet, all four teams can still make tiebreakers.   Should McEwen beat Koe this afternoon, then, in tonight’s draw, Martin defeat Stoughton and Ferbey beat Simmons, there would be a four-way tie for second, all with 2-3 marks.

In Section B, Howard is 4-0 and Brad Gushue of St. John’s is 3-1.  They meet this afternoon at 1:30 p.m.  Whoever wins will claim top spot in Section B and advance to the Page 1 vs 1 game Saturday morning against Koe.    If Gushue loses and Ferbey wins, there will be a tiebreaker played between the two, as they would finish with 3-2 records.  Reid Carruthers (1-3) and Burtnyk (0-4) have been eliminated.

On the women’s side, Stefanie Lawton of Saskatoon moved into a three-way tie with Calgary’s Shannon Kleibrink and Kelowna’s Kelly Scott, all at 3-1 in Section B, with a 9-2 pasting of Calgary’s Heather Rankin.  In another match between winless teams, 2006 Cup winner Cathy King of Edmonton outlasted Janet Harvey of Winnipeg, 9-7 in an extra end.  

The standings in Section A have Calgary’s Cheryl Bernard at 4-0, Jennifer Jones at 3-1 and Sherry Anderson at 2-2.  King (1-3) and Harvey (0-4) have been eliminated.  Bernard clinched first place yesterday and will advance to the Page 1 vs 1 game Saturday morning at 8:30 am.    Anderson needs to beat Harvey this afternoon while Jones would have to lose to King later tonight in order to create a tiebreaker between Jones and Anderson.

In Section B, Kristie Moore (1-3) and Rankin (0-4) have been eliminated behind the three leaders.   Kleibrink plays Lawton this afternoon.  If Lawton wins, she’ll be first and advance to the Page 1 vs 1 game against Bernard, since she also defeated Scott earlier.   If Kleibrink wins, she needs Scott to lose to Moore tonight in order to claim top spot.

The round robin concludes with draws at 1:30 pm and 6:00 pm today.

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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