Defending champion Glenn Howard (Coldwater, Ont.) and Kevin Martin (Edmonton, Alta.), Canada’s 2010 Olympic representative, will enter the quarterfinals of the BDO Classic Canadian Open as the top two seeds respectively after completing round robin play with perfect 5-0 records during the season’s third Capital One Grand Slam of Curling series event, taking place at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg, Man.
Howard kept his perfect record intact this evening with a dramatic 5-4 come from behind victory over Pat Simmons (Davidson, Sask.). Trailing 4-3 after seven ends, Howard stole consecutive points in the eighth and extra ends to pull out the victory.
Howard, the defending Capital One Cup champion, qualified for the quarterfinals earlier in the day after squeezing past John Shuster (Duluth, Minnesota), the United States’ 2010 Olympic representative, 4-3.
Martin put the finishing touches on his fifth straight victory this evening with a convincing 7-3 decision over Brad Gushue (St. John’s, Nfld). This afternoon, Martin qualified for the playoff round after edging Bob Ursel (Kelowna, B.C.) 6-4.
Thomas Ulsrud (Oslo, Norway) and Wayne Middaugh (Etobicoke, Ont.) secured the third and fourth playoff seeds respectively after finishing the preliminary round at 4-1.
Jeff Stoughton (Winnipeg, Man.), Randy Ferbey (Edmonton, Alta.), Mike McEwen (Winnipeg, Man.) and Bob Ursel (Kelowna, B.C.) were the final four teams to qualify for the quarterfinals after concluding round robin play at 3-2.
CBC Television will air live coverage of the tournament’s quarterfinals on Saturday, January 23 at 3:00 p.m. EST. The event’s semi-finals are set for later that evening at 7:00 p.m. EST and will air on CBC’s digital channel, bold. CBC Sports will also provide live broadband coverage of all playoff draws, exclusively at www.CBCSports.ca.
Saturday’s quarterfinal match-ups for the BDO Classic Canadian Open are as follows. Note: Number in bracket denotes playoff seed.
BDO Classic Canadian Open – Quarterfinal Schedule
| (1) Glenn Howard (Coldwater, Ont.) | vs. | (8) Bob Ursel (Kelowna, B.C.) |
| (4) Wayne Middaugh (Etobicoke, Ont.) | vs. | (5) Jeff Stoughton (Winnipeg, Man.) |
| (3) Thomas Ulsrud (Oslo, Norway) | vs. | (6) Randy Ferbey (Edmonton, Alta.) |
| (2) Kevin Martin (Edmonton, Alta.) | vs. | (7) Mike McEwen (Winnipeg, Man.) |
The finals of the BDO Classic Canadian Open will take place on Sunday, January 24 at 1:00 p.m. EST and will be shown live on CBC Television. As part of the festivities surrounding the tournament, the BDO Classic Canadian Open will once again host the finals of the Capital One Million Dollar Button, a national contest where one lucky Canadian will win the chance to throw a rock to the button for $1 million (CDN), live on CBC Television during Sunday’s championship game.
The BDO Classic Canadian Open features a $100,000 (CDN) purse. The tournament’s champion will earn $22,500 (CDN) plus an additional $500 for each round robin victory.
Throughout the BDO Classic Canadian Open, members of the media can access live scoring, schedule and statistical information of each draw by visiting the official Capital One Grand Slam of Curling website at www.grandslamofcurling.com.
Held annually since 2001-02, the Capital One Grand Slam of Curling features the world’s best players in one series.
Related posts:
- Martin, Howard, Ulsrud and Middaugh Through to the Quarterfinals at the BDO Classic Canadian Open
- Martin and Howard to Meet in Second Straight BDO Classic Canadian Open Final
- Kevin Martin Back on Track to Open BDO Classic Canadian Open
- Martin, Howard and Ulsrud Pull Away at BDO Classic Canadian Open
- Kevin Martin Captures Fifth Career BDO Classic Canadian Open Title
Tags: BDO Classic Canadian Open, capital one grand slam of curling, glenn howard, kevin martin