Team, mixed doubles, singles showdowns set at WFG Continental Cup

LAS VEGAS — A tantalizing rematch of last year’s gold-medal game at the Ford World Men’s Curling Championship will highlight the opening day of play at the 2014 World Financial Group Continental Cup. Sweden’s Niklas Edin, a member of Team World, will take on Canada’s Brad Jacobs, a member of Team North America, in opening-day team competition in curling’s version of the Ryder Cup, after the respective captains and coaches — Steve Brown and Rick Lang for Team North America; David Hay and Peja Lindholm for Team World — announced their picks following Wednesday’s practice sessions at the Orleans Arena. That game is set for 7 p.m. (all times Pacific); Edin prevailed in last year’s gold-medal final in Victoria. There will be two rounds of traditional team competition on Thursday and Friday (8:30 a.m. and 7 p.m. both days). Additionally, there will be a mixed doubles draw on Thursday at 1 p.m. and another mixed doubles draw on Saturday at 9 a.m. The singles matchups for Friday’s 1 p.m. draw also were determined (see below for all of the matchups). The unique format pits Team North America against Team World in various disciplines during four days of competition — traditional team games, mixed doubles, singles, mixed skins and standard skins games. Each segment awards points for wins (or ties). A total of 60 points are available, meaning the side that earns more than 30 points will be declared the champion. For the six mixed doubles and six singles matches, one point will be awarded for each victory, one-half point if tied. There will be 18 team games (nine men’s and nine women’s) played, each worth one point for a win and a half-point for a tie. All games are eight ends and there are no extra ends.  There will also be six skins games (those matchups will be decided on Saturday), with each game worth a total of five points to the winner. For ticket and other event information, visit www.curling.ca/2014continentalcup-en/ For the complete schedule, go to: www.curling.ca/2014continentalcup-en/draw-schedule/ TSN (RDS2 in French), the exclusive television network for the CCA’s Season of Champions, will provide complete coverage of the WFG Continental Cup. This story will be posted in French as soon as possible at www.curling.ca/2014continentalcup-fr/ MATCHUPS Thursday 8:30 a.m. Team Sheet A — Eve Muirhead (World) vs. Jennifer Jones (North America) Sheet B — Thomas Ulsrud (World) vs. Jeff Stoughton (North America) Sheet C — Satsuki Fujisawa (World) vs. Erika Brown (North America) 1 p.m. Mixed Doubles Sheet A —Niklas Edin/Christina Bertrup (World) vs. Mark Nichols/Jennifer Jones (North America) Sheet B — Sebastian Kraupp/Maria Prytz (World) vs. Jeff Stoughton/Kaitlyn Lawes (North America) Sheet C — Christoffer Svae/Satsuki Fujisawa (World) vs. Jeff Isaacson/Debbie McCormick (North America) 7 p.m. Team Sheet A — Niklas Edin (World) vs. Brad Jacobs (North America) Sheet B — Margaretha Sigfridsson (World) vs. Rachel Homan (North America) Sheet C — David Murdoch (World) vs. John Shuster (North America) Friday 8:30 a.m. Team Sheet A — Satsuki Fujisawa (World) vs. Rachel Homan (North America) Sheet B — Niklas Edin (World) vs. John Shuster (North America) Sheet C — Margaretha Sigfridsson (World) vs. Jennifer Jones (North America) 1 p.m. Singles Women Sheet A — Eve Muirhead (World) vs. Jennifer Jones (North America) Sheet B — Margaretha Sigfridsson (World) vs. Rachel Homan (North America) Sheet C — Satsuki Fujisawa (World) vs. Erika Brown (North America) Men Sheet A — Niklas Edin (World) vs. Brad Jacobs (North America Sheet B — Thomas Ulsrud (World) vs. Jeff Stoughton (North America) Sheet C — David Murdoch (World) vs. John Shuster (North America) 7 p.m. Team Sheet A — David Murdoch (World) vs. Jeff Stoughton (North America) Sheet B — Eve Muirhead (World) vs. Erika Brown (North America) Sheet C — Thomas Ulsrud (World) vs. Brad Jacobs (North America) Saturday 9 a.m. Mixed Doubles Sheet A — Greg Drummond/Anna Sloan (World) vs. Ryan Fry/Emma Miskew (North America) Sheet B — Thomas Ulsrud/Miyo Ichikawa (World) vs. John Shuster/Jessica Schultz (North America) Sheet C — David Murdoch/Eve Muirhead (World) vs. E.J. Harnden/Rachel Homan (North America) 1:30 p.m. Team Sheet A — Margaretha Sigfridsson (World) vs. Erika Brown (North America) Sheet B — David Murdoch (World) vs. Brad Jacobs (North America) Sheet C — Eve Muirhead (World) vs. Rachel Homan (North America) 6:30 p.m. Team Sheet A — Thomas Ulsrud (World) vs. John Shuster (North America) Sheet B — Satsuki Fujisawa (World) vs. Jennifer Jones (North America) Sheet C — Niklas Edin (World) vs. Jeff Stoughton (North America)