Team World sweeps women’s games Friday morning at Continental Cup

Team World swept all three women’s games Friday morning at the Continental Cup, presented by Monsanto, to open a 54-18 point lead over North America, heading into this afternoon’s Mixed Doubles session.Switzerland’s Mirjam Ott remained perfect at the Edgeworth Centre, as her team from Davos whipped Canada’s Stefanie Lawton, 8-5.  Ott also won her team game Thursday against Debbie McCormick of the USA, then combined with Scotland’s Ewan MacDonald to win their Mixed Doubles match in the afternoon. Sweden’s Anette Norberg, the 2006 Olympic gold medallist and two-time (2005, 2006) world champion, defeated 2003 world champion Debbie McCormick, 5-3.  In the third game, China’s Bingyu Wang edged Canada’s Jennifer Jones, 5-4 in a rematch of last year’s final of the Ford world women’s curling championship in Vernon, British Columbia.  Wang was able to steal one in the last end when Jones was heavy on a draw with her final stone. The three victories earned Team World 18 points (six for each win), widening the gap between the rivals, as the World tries to even the Cup wins at three apiece. North America holds a 3-2 edge since the unique four-day competition began in 2002 in Regina.   North America won the inaugural Cup, then took renewals in Medicine Hat in 2004 and 2007.   The World (formerly Team Europe) won in 2003 in Thunder Bay and 2006 in Chilliwack. The Continental Cup, the first event in curling’s Season of Champions, involves Team games (72 points), Mixed Doubles (36 points), Singles (32 points) and Skins (Men’s, Women’s and Mixed, worth a total of 260 points).   The first side to score 201 points is declared the winner.  Each member of the winning team will receive $2,000, while each losing team member gets $1,400. Next up at 1:00 pm MT/3:00 pm ET is another session of Mixed Doubles, with three men’s team games getting underway tonight at 8:00 pm MT/10:00 pm ET.    Each win is worth six points, while ties are not broken and the points are split.  Every game is only eight ends. TSN and TSN2 are providing full live national coverage of the competition. The Continental Cup is a joint venture of the Canadian Curling Association, the United States Curling Association and the World Curling Federation.