Men’s playoff positions almost set at Canada Cup

The men’s playoff schedule is almost set at the Canada Cup of Curling, presented by Richardson International. Friday afternoon at the Farrell Agencies Arena in the Gallagher Centre, Edmonton’s Randy Ferbey scored an 8-7 decision over Winnipeg’s Mike McEwen, while Jeff Stoughton of Winnipeg edged Ted Appelman of Edmonton, 9-8 in an extra end. The result left both Ferbey and Stoughton tied with 4-1 marks in Section B, but Ferbey was given the nod for first place because of his 9-5 round robin win this morning over the recent Brier runner-up. That means that Ferbey, a three-time Cup winner, six-time Brier winner and four-time world champion, will once again face Edmonton rival Kevin Martin in the Page A1 vs B1 game Saturday morning at 8:30 am.   The winner advances to Sunday evening’s final at 7:30 pm CT, while the loser will go to Saturday evening’s semi-final at 7:30 pm. Martin, of course, is coming off two consecutive, record-setting undefeated Tim Hortons Brier triumphs.  He’s also the reigning world champion and he, too, has previously won the Canada Cup….twice. Martin has already clinched top spot in Section A with a 4-0 record, but will play his final game of the round robin at 6:00 pm CT this evening against Toronto’s Wayne Middaugh. Meanwhile, Stoughton will go to the A2 vs B2 Page Playoff game Saturday morning as well, to face either Edmonton’s Kevin Koe, who defeated Winnipeg’s Kerry Burtnyk, 9-4 this afternoon, or Middaugh. If Middaugh beats Martin tonight, he’ll clinch second place in Section A with a 3-2 mark.  If he loses, though, Koe, who is also at 3-2 in Section B, will advance instead to the Page game against Stoughton, since he’ll have a better w-l record than Middaugh, regardless of Sections. The women’s side is much murkier, though, with first place in both Sections A and B still up for grabs.  In Section A, Michelle Englot of Regina and Shannon Kleibrink of Calgary are both at 3-1. Englot plays Stefanie Lawton while Kleibrink plays Sherry Middaugh in tonight’s final round robin draw at 6:00 pm CT.   A win by Kleibrink will clinch first place since she defeated Englot, 9-3 earlier in the week. In Section B, Marie-France Larouche of St-Romuald is currently at 3-1 and can clinch first place with a win over Amber Holland of Kronau tonight. In Draw 9 action this afternoon, Calgary’s Cheryl Bernard has clinched at least a tiebreaker after eliminating Cathy King of Edmonton, 10-9 in an extra end.    She moved into second place in Section B at 3-2 with the win. Meanwhile, Mary-Anne Arsenault of Halifax eliminated Kelly Scott of Kelowna, 7-3 to also improve to 3-2 in Section A.  However, she needs either Kleibrink or Englot to lose tonight in order to force a tiebreaker.