KAMLOOPS, February 29…Two tiebreakers will be required to determine the men’s second place finisher in Section A, after the round robin of the Strauss Canada Cup concluded Friday night at the Interior Savings Centre.

When Kevin Martin defeated Jeff Stoughton, 7-6 and Pat Simmons lost to Randy Ferbey, 10-5, a four-way tie for second was created behind first place finisher Kevin Koe.

Simmons, Martin, Stoughton and McEwen all wound up with 2-3 marks.  Thus, in the first tiebreaker games Friday night at 10:00 pm, Simmons meets McEwen, while Martin meets Stoughton again.  The two winners will then play tomorrow morning at 8:30 am to determine the second place finisher.

At the same time, live on CBC-TV, the Page 1 vs 1 games take place.  In women’s, Calgary’s Cheryl Bernard, the undefeated A winner, battles Stefanie Lawton, the B winner, while in men’s, Edmonton’s Kevin Koe faces off against Brad Gushue of St. John’s, the B winner.

The winners advance to Sunday’s finals at 9:00 am PT/12 Noon ET, live on CBC-TV while the losers go to Saturday evening’s semi-finals.

At 1:30 pm Saturday afternoon, in the Page 2 vs 2 games, A runner-up Jennifer Jones of Winnipeg takes on rival Kelly Scott of Kelowna, the B runner-up.  In men’s, Glenn Howard of Coldwater, the B runner-up, will await the winner of the men’s tiebreakers.

Jones won her game tonight, 8-3 over Cathy King to finish at 4-1, a game behind Bernard (5-0), while Scott came through with a 7-4 victory over Kristie Moore to finish at 4-1 in Section B, tied with Lawton.  Lawton was accorded top spot, however, for her round robin win over Scott.

Both Page 2 vs 2 winners also advance to the semi-finals at 7:00 pm.

In the other Draw 10 game Friday night, Kerry Burtnyk (1-4) won his first game, 8-7 over Reid Carruthers (1-4).

The final round robin standings were as follows:  In men’s, in Section A, Koe (4-1), Simmons (2-3), Martin (2-3), Stoughton (2-3) and McEwen (2-3). In Section B, Gushue (4-1), Howard (4-1), Ferbey (3-2), Burtnyk (1-4), Carruthers (1-4).

In women’s, in Section A, Bernard (5-0), Jones (4-1), Anderson (3-2), King (1-4), Harvey (0-5).  In Section B, Lawton (4-1), Scott (4-1), Kleibrink (3-2), Moore (1-4), Rankin (0-5).

The winners of the Strauss Canada Cup 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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