Team Gushue

CBC.CA - Torino 2006 - Curling - Headlines

Last Updated: Sun Feb 19 15:29:19 EST 2006
CBC Sports

Shannon Kleibrink improved to 5-3 with an 11-4 triumph over host Italy on Sunday. (CP Photo/Andrew Vaughan)

Canadian curler Shannon Kleibrink rebounded from a shocking loss to Japan by thumping Italy 11-4 at the Torino Olympic Winter Games.

Kleibrink, whose rink curls out of Calgary, improved to 5-3 with Sunday’s nine-end triumph at Pinerolo, located 50 kilometres from Turin.

Sweden (7-1) and Switzerland (6-2) have guaranteed themselves playoff berths with Canada and Norway (5-2) also in position to clinch.

The top four teams advance to the medal round with first-ranked rink facing the fourth and the second taking on the third.

Italy dropped to a tournament-worst 1-7 as skip Diana Gaspari struggled mightily, posting an accuracy rate of 49 per cent.

By comparison, Kleinbrink curled at a 75 per cent clip.

Kleibrink led 5-0 through three ends, opening with a single point and scoring deuces in both the second and third.

Kleinbrink drew inside for a steal of two to go ahead 7-2 in the fifth, but Gaspari got one back with a hit and stick on last rock in the sixth.

Lying two in the seventh, Gaspari put Kleibrink on the defensive by closing the lone port to the button with a high guard.

Kleibrink had no choice but to erase one Italian rock with a straight hit and concede the single point.

Kleibrink drew to the button for two in the eighth, then closed out the contest with a steal of two in the ninth.

Elsewhere, Switzerland scored three in the 10th to edge the United States 9-8, Japan stunned defending Olympic champion Rhona Martin of Great Britain 10-5 and Russia toppled Denmark 9-7.

In the men’s draw, Finland joined Great Britain and the United States in the medal round by virtue of a 7-4 victory over host Italy.

Canada’s Brad Gushue currently holds the upper hand on the fourth and final playoff berth, sitting fourth at 4-3 heading into Sunday’s game against winless New Zealand (0-7).

with files from CP Online
Copyright © CBC 2006

CBC.CA - Torino 2006 - Curling - Headlines - Canada’s Kleibrink outcurls Britain

Last Updated: Fri Feb 17 12:40:11 EST 2006
CBC Sports

Shannon Kleibrink got the better of defending champion Rhona Martin of Great Britain in women’s curling at the Torino Olympic Winter Games.

Kleibrink, whose rink curls out of Calgary, built up a 3-0 lead by the third end en route to a 9-3 win in the seventh draw at Pinerolo, about 50 kilometres from Turin.

Canada improved to 4-2 overall, tied with Norway and Switzerland behind front-running Sweden (5-1).

Great Britain fell to 3-2.

Kleibrink scored two in the second and one in the third, then stole one in the fourth on Martin’s failed double-takeout for a 4-0 lead.

Martin was lying two deep in the fifth with a chance to draw for three on last rock, but settled for halving the deficit when it ran heavy.

It remained 4-2 until Kleibrink scored one on a takeout in the seventh.

Martin answered back with one in the eighth but, forced to relinquish the hammer, conceded when Kleibrink counted four in the ninth.

Elsewhere, Norway outlasted host Italy 9-7, Sweden also won 9-7 over Switzerland, and Russia beat the United States 8-7 in an extra end.

In men’s action, Markku Uusipaavalniemi of Finland parlayed a pair of early takeouts into an 11-4 victory over Sweden.

Finland (3-2) pulled even with the U.S. and Switzerland, an 8-5 winner over Germany.

Uusipaavalniemi’s opponent is Canada’s Brad Gushue (1 p.m. EST).

Gushue currently is tied for top spot at 4-1 with David Murdoch of Great Britain.

Defending Olympic champion Paal Trulsen of Norway trounced Italy 11-3 in Friday’s remaining morning matchup.

Italian skip Joel Retornaz conceded when Norway (3-3) stole four in the seventh.

The top four rinks advance to the medal round.

with files from CP Online

Copyright © CBC 2006

CBC.CA - Torino 2006 - Curling - Headlines

Last Updated: Thu Feb 16 12:10:24 EST 2006
CBC Sports

Canada’s Brad Gushue upped his Olympic curling record to 4-1 Thursday with a 6-5 win over defending men’s gold medallist Paal Trulsen of Norway.

Trulsen fell to 2-3 on the tournament after his final rock of the 10th end rubbed on another stone, leaving Gushue’s shot stone as the decisive point.

Gushue opened the scoring with two points in the first end and one in the second before Trulsen got one back in the third. The Norwegian then stole one in each of the next two ends to even the game, 3-3.

Gushue reclaimed the lead in the seventh, drawing to the four-foot for one, before Trulsen gave up a steal in the eighth to hand Gushue a lead of two.

Trulsen again squared the game in the ninth before Gushue picked up the winning point in the tenth via Trulsen’s missed shot.

In other men’s action on Thursday afternoon, David Murdoch of Great Britain kept pace with Gushue atop the standings with a 7-6 win over Germany’s Andy Kapp, who fell to 1-3. Switzerland’s Ralph Stoeckli evened his record at 2-2 with a 9-7 win over Sean Becker of New Zealand, who fell to 0-5.

Pete Fenson of the United States stunned Sweden’s Peja Lindholm by stealing two in both the ninth and tenth ends for a 10-6 win. Both skips are now 2-2.

Gushue returns to the ice on Friday evening for a game against Finland’s Markku Uusipaavalniemi, who was idle on Thursday afternoon and stands at 2-2.

The Canadian women’s rink, skipped by Shannon Kleibrink, lost to Switzerland on Thursday morning and fell to 2-2. They’ll be back in action Thursday evening against Norway.

Copyright © CBC 2006

edmontonsun.com - 2006 Games - Drinking with their enemies

Canadians learn to mingle with foes after curling bonspiel in Europe

By ERIC FRANCIS, CALGARY SUN

TURIN, Italy — Those who think drinking and curling don’t necessarily go together at the Olympic level should guess again.

In an effort to better acquaint themselves with European curling and culture, Olympic preparations for Shannon Kleibrink’s Calgary rink included a recent bonspiel in Switzerland, where they raised a glass with seven of the ten teams they’ll face here.

“One of the European traditions that was hard for us was sitting down and having a drink with the other team after the game,” laughed second Glenys Bakker, a High River mother of two currently currently on maternity leave.

“They have tables in the lounge reserved with your sheet number on it. We didn’t know at first, so I think they thought we were being rude,” added Kleibrink, 37, a Saskatchewan native who now calls Okotoks home.

“They came over and told us and we joined them.”

With seven games in two days, it’s easy to see how the foursome had a hard time staying, um, focused.

And with every win, it cost them a few more euros.

WINNERS BUY

“The tradition is that the winners buy the losers a round,” smiled lead Christine Keshen, 27, an Invermere product who lives in Calgary.

“It’s an awesome tradition because if you lose, at least you get a free beer out of it.”

That’s not to say things got messy, as the foursome didn’t have to remind one another they were there to get a feel for what the Olympics would be like.

While Kleibrink and Bakker partook in the revelry, Keshen, for one, is a fitness freak who says she’d would rather jog 10 km than pick up a pint.

“You may see me with a beer in my hand but it’s followed by four waters,” added third Amy Nixon, 28, who said the early January trip that also took them to Italy to see the Olympic curling venue and lodgings was truly an eye-opener.

“The European teams are in a different environment, like seeing them high-five when the other team misses a shot.”

After marching into Friday night’s opening ceremony, the Calgary quartet moved from the athletes village to Pinerolo, 30 km outside Turin.

TEST THE ICE

Settling into their housing near the Pinerolo Palaghiaccio rink, they got a chance to test the ice for the first time yesterday, with pleasing results.

“It’s great - it’s just what we were hoping for,” said Kleibrink, who curls out of the Calgary Winter Club.

“There’s not much curl and, being from Alberta, that’s what we like. When we travel east to play in Canada the ice seems very bendy and we’ve had to get used to that.”

Despite coming off a disappointing showing at the recent Canada Cup and being Olympic rookies with little international experience, the wide-eyed Canadian crew starts the tourney tomorrow as one of the favourites with Switzerland, Norway and a modified defending champion team from Great Britain.

Annette Norberg’s world championship Swedish rink is also a favourite and has drawn plenty of attention for appearing in a heavy medal video with Swedish rockers Hammerfall.

Canada’s Kelley Law finished third in Salt Lake City after Sandra Shmirler won gold in Nagano where the first Olympic curling medals were handed out.

“The whole rest of this trip is a mystery to me,” said Bakker, 43, whose team continues to work with its psychologist here.

“I know we’re going to win gold but the rest is an unknown adventure.”

An adventure that won’t include any more post-game Pilsners until after the final.

Copyright © 2006, Canoe Inc. All rights reserved

Canadian Curling Association - Gushue fails to make playoffs; Howard, Martin clinch top spots at Strauss Canada Cup

Thursday, February 02, 2006
Source: Canadian Curling Association

KAMLOOPS, February 2, 2006…The Brad Gushue team, which will head to Torino, Italy next week as Canada’s representative in the men’s Olympic curling competition, has also been eliminated from the Strauss Canada Cup playoffs. Canada’s Olympic women’s team, skipped by Calgary’s Shannon Kleibrink, was eliminated from the playoffs, as well, this morning.

Thursday afternoon at the Interior Savings Centre, Gushue got smoked by Edmonton’s Mark Johnson, 11-3, to fall to 1-3 in Section B. The game started poorly for the St. John’s skip, as Johnson counted four in the first end. At the fifth end break, the margin was 7-3. Then in the sixth, another Johnson four-ender made it 11-3, signalling the end for Gushue’s hopes for a playoff spot, in his team’s final tune-up prior to the curling event in Pinerolo, February 13-24.

In another key matchup in Draw 8, John Morris of Calgary whipped Randy Ferbey of Edmonton, 8-3 to move to 3-1 in Section A, a game behind Glenn Howard of Coldwater, who is a perfect 4-0. The result means that Howard clinches first place regardless of Friday morning’s final round robin draw results, since he defeated Morris, 7-3 earlier. Ferbey dropped to 2-2.

Morris plays Brad Heidt of Kerrobert on Friday. If Morris wins, two-time Cup winner Ferbey will be eliminated from the playoffs, in which only the top two teams in each section qualify, after any required tie-breakers.

The other two teams in Section A, Glen Despins of Regina, at 1-3 and Heidt, at 0-4, an 8-3 loser to Edmonton’s Kevin Martin, were eliminated earlier from the playoffs.

In Section B, Martin, the defending Cup champion, has locked up first place at 4-0, regardless of the outcome of his game Friday against Jim Cotter of Kelowna. That’s because his closest pursuer, Bob Ursel of Kelowna, is at 3-1 and already lost to Martin earlier in the week, 6-5.

With the win, Johnson improved to 2-2, followed by Gushue and a winless Cotter at 0-4. If Johnson defeats Ursel Friday at 8:30 am in the final game of the round robin, those two will wind up tied with 3-2 marks and would have to play a tie-breaker.

One playoff pairing that is confirmed is Glenn Howard against Kevin Martin in the cross-over Page game featuring Section A and B winners Saturday afternoon. The winner will advance to Sunday morning’s final, while the loser goes to Saturday night’s semi-final.

On the women’s side, Renée Sonnenberg of Grande Prairie pulled into a three-way tie for the lead in Section A by defeating previously unbeaten Sandy Comeau of Moncton, 10-8, stealing two in an extra end when Comeau was well light with her four-foot draw attempt. Regina’s Jan Betker is also at 3-1. Both Janet Harvey of Winnipeg and Kleibrink are out of it at 1-3.

In Section B, Edmonton’s Cathy King defeated Calgary’s Heather Rankin, 7-5 to improve to 3-1, while Winnipeg’s Jennifer Jones and Kelowna’s Kelly Scott are 2-2. Rankin dropped to 1-3, joining Heather Strong of St. John’s.

However, nobody has been eliminated yet in Section B nor has first place been confirmed. The final draw of the women’s round robin goes this evening at 7:00 pm.

Ten men’s and 10 women’s teams began the week seeking the $33,500 first place prize, along with a return trip to the 2007 renewal as defending champions.

For its subscribers, CurlTV (www.curltv.com) is webcasting games from the afternoon and evening draws through Saturday, plus a game Friday morning from the men’s final round robin draw.

At the conclusion of the round robin, a cross-over Page Playoff system will occur, whereby the first place finishers in each group face each other, with the winner advancing to the final, the loser to the semi-final. The two second-place teams also meet, with the winner going to the semi-final while the loser is eliminated.

CBC-TV will televise the women’s final on Saturday, February 4 and the men’s final on Sunday, February 5, with both games beginning at 9:00 am PT/12 Noon ET.

© 2004-2006 Canadian Curling Association. All rights reserved.