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Continental Cup of Curling begins Thursday in Thunder Bayby Jeff Timson, St Clair's Group. November 24, 2003 The second Continental Cup of Curling, patterned somewhat
after golf's Ryder Cup, is set to begin Thursday, November 27 at the Fort William
Gardens in Thunder Bay, Ontario.
Sanctioned by the World Curling Federation (WCF), USA Curling and the Canadian Curling Association (CCA), the Continental Cup will again offer a total prize package of $200,000 (Cdn). The winning side in this unique, four-day international competition that brings together the world's finest curlers, receives $125,000 while the losing side shares $75,000. Twelve teams, six representing Team North America and six carrying the colours of Team Europe, will contest a variety of competitions Team, Mixed Doubles, Singles and Skins events. Each competition is weighted on a points basis. The side which first earns 201 of the 400 available points will be declared the champion. The points breakdown is as follows: Team (72), Mixed Doubles (36), Singles (32) and Skins (260). TSN will provide complete daily television coverage across Canada of the 'Cup', beginning Thursday, November 27. There is also pay-per-view webcast programming being offered for the first time by MultiCast Networks, Inc. For further information, visit the CCA website (www.curling.ca). WC TV (World Curling TV) is also producing and distributing a daily highlights package for European television stations and networks. Last year in Regina, the inaugural Continental Cup turned into a thriller,
when Team North America's Kevin Martin defeated Team World's Peja Lindholm
in the men's Skins final. It was a game which went down to the last rock,
when Martin was able to steal a 'skin' and give North America a 207-193 overall
points victory. Joining them will be skips Mark Dacey of Halifax, runner-up at the 2003 Nokia Brier, 2003 Canada Cup champion Sherry Middaugh of Victoria Harbour, Ontario and current U.S. national men's champion Pete Fenson of Bemidji, Minnesota. The captain for North America is Thunder Bay's Rick Lang, a three-time (1975, 1982, 1985) Brier and two-time (1982, 1985) world champion. Team Europe (formerly Team World) is once again headed by 2002 Olympic gold medallist Pål Trulsen of Norway and two-time (1997, 2001) world champion Peja Lindholm of Sweden. Also named to compete are Norway's Dordi Nordby, a two-time world champion (1990, 1991), Scotland's 2002 world champion Jackie Lockhart and 1999 world champion Hammy McMillan and Sweden's Anette Norberg, a five-time worlds medallist (four bronze, one silver). Norway's 1979 world champion Kristian Soerum will once again captain Team Europe. The women's and men's Team games take place on Thursday, November 27 and
Friday, November 28. The unique Mixed Doubles event is also scheduled for
Friday. The Singles competition, similar to the Ford Hot Shots contested annually
at the Scott Tournament of Hearts and Nokia Brier, is slated for Saturday
morning, while the heavily points-weighted Skins games will be held on both
Saturday and Sunday, with the men's 'A' Skins game slated for prime time,
from 6:00 - 9:00 pm ET on Sunday. Daily competition results will be posted on the World Curling Federation (www.worldcurling.org), Canadian Curling Association (www.curling.ca), USA Curling (www.usacurl.org) and host committee (www.continentalcup.ca) websites. For ticket information, contact the Fort William Gardens box office at 807-625-2929. The media room phone number is 807-623-7629 or 807-628-9271. The fax number is 807-623-7698. Draw Times: All times Eastern Thursday, November 27 8:30 am - Opening Ceremonies Friday, November 28 8:00 am - 11:00 am Women's Team Saturday, November 29 9:00 am - 11:00 am Singles Sunday, November 30 12:30 pm - 3:30 pm Women's Skins (A) For further information: Jeff Timson CONTINENTAL CUP, NOVEMBER 27-30, 2003 TEAM EUROPE - Captain: Kristian Soerum, Oslo, Norway
TEAM NORTH AMERICA - Captain: Rick Lang, Thunder Bay, Ontario
2003-10-22 | |||||||||||||||||||
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