2012 Sun Life Financial Players’ Championship Draw 11
(GrandSlamofCurling.com)
Draw 11 of the 2012 Sun Life Financial Players’ Championship came to a close Friday afternoon, the final round-robin draw of the women’s event at Credit Union Place in Summerside, PEI.
The final event of the 2011-12 Capital One Grand Slam of Curling season offers cash prizes for the top eight men’s and top eight women’s teams totalling $370,000, with a men’s and women’s Canadian Team Ranking System (CTRS) berth into the 2013 Canadian Olympic Trials also on the line.
Jennifer Jones defeated Winnipeg rival Cathy Overton-Clapham 6-3 to close out the women’s round-robin. Overton-Clapham finished in first-place with a 6-1 won/loss record, while Jones finished at 5-2 along with Stefanie Lawton of Saskatoon, who dropped Chelsea Carey of Morden, Man. by a 7-2 count.
Thanks to Lawton’s round-robin victory over Jones, her squad claims second place while Jones is ranked third. The two will meet in one semi-final on Saturday at 8:30am Atlantic, with the winner advancing to Saturday’s championship final at 1 pm Atlantic (Global Television).
Meanwhile, Overton-Clapham will compete in the other semi-final against the winner of this evening’s 6:30pm EDT tiebreaker between Edmonton’s Heather Nedohin and Sherry Middaugh of Coldwater, Ont. Both teams finished at 4-3 after Nedohin defeated Eve Muirhead of Stirling, Scotland 5-3 and Middaugh upended Silvana Tirinzoni of Aarau, Switzerland with a 6-5 extra-end win.
Nedohin currently holds a 23.14 point lead over Middaugh for the elusive CTRS berth into the trials in Winnipeg (Jones ranks first but has already qualified via her Canada Cup win in December) and with 45 points on the line for the champion, the spot is still up for grabs. A victory by Nedohin in the tiebreaker will clinch the CTRS berth for her team, while Middaugh needs to win the Sun Life Financial Players’ Championship title to grab the berth.
In earlier Friday morning action, Team Niklas Edin of Karlstad, Sweden (with New Brunswick’s James Grattan at skip) upset Glenn Howard of Coldwater, Ont by a 5-3 scoreline, Edmonton’s Kevin Koe scored four in the seventh end to defeat Brad Gushue of St. John’s, NFLD 7-3, Mike McEwen of Winnipeg handed Kevin Martin of Edmonton his first loss by a 6-4 count and John Epping of Toronto continued his Cinderella run, knocking off 2011 world champion Jeff Stoughton of Winnipeg 7-1.
Draw 12 this afternoon saw Howard (3-2) edge Martin (4-1) 6-5, McEwen edging Koe (both 3-2) by a 5-4 score, Epping (4-1) beating Team Edin (1-4) 7-3 and Gushue edging Stoughton (both 1-4), 7-6 in an extra.
Also taking place during the Sun Life Financial Players’ Championship is the fourth and final qualifying event in the Capital One Million Dollar Button contest. Six tournament spectators in Summerside will be given one chance to throw a stone to the button, with the rock landing closest to the button declared the winner. That winner will be the seventh and final participant in the Capital One Million Dollar Button semi-final at the Credit Union Place, whereupon one lucky winner will have the chance to draw to the button for an attempt at $1 million.
Three semi-finalists qualified earlier this month at the GP Car and Home World Cup of Curling in Kingston, ON, the BDO Canadian Open in Kingston, ON and the Pomeroy Inn & Suites National in Dawson Creek, BC. Three additional semi-finalists qualified from online entries on the contest website at Milliondollarbutton.ca
The six semi-finalists are: Beth Tretreault of Thessalon, ON, Bill McCormick of Kingston, ON, Shannon Anderson of Dawson Creek, BC, and online contest entrants Michael Laird of Edmonton, AB, Dan Robichaud of Saint John, NB and Emilia Borrrelli of Edmonton, AB.
The men’s and women’s finals of the 2012 Sun Life Financial Players’ Championship will be broadcast live April 21-22, beginning at 1pm ADT on the full Global Television national network.
For more information on the 2012 Sun Life Financial Players’ Championship, please visit: www.grandslamofcurling.com
Scores:
Draw 11 — Apr 20 11:00am EDT:
Heather Nedohin — Edmonton, AB *2020001X–5
Eve Muirhead — Perth, SCO 0100020X–3
Sherry Middaugh — Coldwater, ON *022000101–6
Silvana Tirinzoni — Aarau, SUI 100210010–5
Chelsea Carey — Morden, MB 02000X–2
Stefanie Lawton — Saskatoon, SK *10411X–7
Jennifer Jones — Winnipeg, MB *1021020X–6
Cathy Overton-Clapham — Winnipeg, MB 0100101X–3
Draw 10 — Apr 20 07:30am EDT:
Jeff Stoughton — Winnipeg, MB 00100X–1
John Epping — Toronto, ON *01042X–7
Mike McEwen — Winnipeg, MB 00010302–6
Kevin Martin — Edmonton, AB *01101010–4
Kevin Koe — Edmonton, AB *1010104X–7
Brad Gushue — St. John’s, NL 0101010X–3
Glenn Howard — Coldwater, ON 0110100X–3
Niklas Edin — Karlstad, SWE *1001021X–5