Brad Gushue (St. John’s, Nfld.) captured his first career Capital One Grand Slam of Curling event title today after defeating Randy Ferbey (Edmonton, Alta.) 6-4 in the finals of The Swiss Chalet National at the Sleeman Centre in Guelph, Ont. A tournament featuring 18 of the world’s top teams, The Swiss Chalet National concluded with a five-day total attendance of 28,431.
“We’ve been playing good all year,” said Gushue. We’ve had four wins before this and to get the fifth at a Grand Slam is nice. This is the best field we’re going to face all year. We played good and we went head to head with a lot of the top teams – Ferbey, (Glenn Howard and Mike McEwen) – in the last three games. It’s nice to come through with three wins.”
The victory provided a bit of redemption for Gushue who gave up a steal of one point in the final end to fall 4-3 to Wayne Middaugh (Etobicoke, Ont.) in the final of last year’s event in Quebec City, Que.
Tied at 4-4 heading into the final frame, Ferbey began building a collection of guards to protect his shot rock in an attempt to steal the game winning point.
Midway through the end, Gushue third Mark Nichols helped pull his team out of trouble by executing a triple peel to remove three guards followed by a brilliant double runback to eliminate Ferbey’s guard and shot rock stones.
“In the last end we had the steal set-up,” said Ferbey. “Mark made a couple good runbacks and got them out of trouble. Looking back, maybe we should have tried something a little different on my first one. That’s what it came down to. I firmly believe we probably had a better chance to win that game if Mark doesn’t make the double runback.”
On the game’s final shot, Gushue was left with a relatively routine hit around a tight guard to improve to 1-2 in career Capital One Grand Slam of Curling event finals.
The first turning point in the game came in the fourth end. Trailing 2-1, Gushue executed a perfect runback to remove Ferbey’s shot rock and score three points for a 4-2 advantage.
Ferbey rebounded in the sixth frame, making a hit and roll for two points.
Tied at 4-4, Gushue blanked the seventh end, allowing him to retain the hammer heading into the final frame.
As tournament champions, Gushue’s team won $24,000 (CDN) and earned 40.000 Canadian Team Ranking System (CTRS) points. By finishing second, Ferbey’s squad took home $17,000 (CDN) along with 27.000 CTRS points. Both teams finished the tournament with a record of 6-2.
The Swiss Chalet National was also the site of the second on-site playoff for the annual Capital One Million Dollar Button contest. Alma Laidlaw, 63, of Guelph, Ont. emerged from a pool of six randomly selected contestants today when her rock landed 60.4 centimetres from the button.
“It’s probably the most nerve-wracking thing I’ve ever done,” said Laidlaw following her winning throw. “It was very exciting and it was nice to have supporters here from the Guelph Curling Club to help cheer me on.”
The regional playoff aired live on CBC Television during the game’s fourth end break.
Clay Graves, 64, of Toronto, Ont. was the first contestant to qualify for the semi-finals after emerging from a pool of six randomly selected contestants at the Grey Power World Cup of Curling in Mississauga, Ont. when his rock landed 152.4 centimetres from the button.
As the contestant with the closest attempt to the button, Laidlaw advances to the semi-finals of the Capital One Million Dollar Button contest in Winnipeg where she’ll compete against Graves and four other qualifiers for the chance to advance to the finals for an opportunity to attempt to cover the button for $1 million (CDN), live on CBC Television.
The finals of the Capital One Million Dollar Button will take place during the championship game of the BDO Classic Canadian Open, the third leg of the men’s 2009-10 Capital One Grand Slam of Curling series, on Sunday, January 24, 2010 at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg, Man.
Held annually since 2001-02, the Capital One Grand Slam of Curling features the world’s best players in one series.
Related posts:
- Ferbey and Gushue Rock Solid Heading into The Swiss Chalet National Final
- Quarterfinal Field Nearly Set at The Swiss Chalet National
- Stoughton and Burtnyk Get a Leg Up at The Swiss Chalet National
- Howard and Stoughton Sweep Past Competition to Open The Swiss Chalet National
- The National Curling Event Renamed The Swiss Chalet National
Tags: brad gushue, capital one grand slam of curling, Capital One Million Dollar Button, the swiss chalet national