THE CANADIAN PRESS
DAWSON CREEK, B.C. — A pair of Olympic gold medallists secured the first two men’s quarter-final berths at the Grey Power Players’ Championship curling tournament.
Reigning Olympic champion Kevin Martin and 2006 gold medallist Brad Gushue each won their respective A qualifier Thursday in the triple elimination tournament and the final Capital One Grand Slam of Curling event of the season.
Martin advanced to the playoffs with a 6-2 win over fellow Edmonton skip Kevin Koe, the reigning world champion.
Gushue reached the quarter-finals after edging Pat Simmons of Davidson, Sask., 6-3.
Martin and Gushue both concluded preliminary round play with perfect 3-0 records.
With the loss, Koe will attempt to qualify for the quarter-finals tomorrow through the B qualifier bracket as he takes on Glenn Howard of Coldwater, Ont., in a rematch of the 2010 Brier final. During the same draw, Simmons will face-off against 2010 Olympian Niklas Edin of Sweden.
In the women’s draw, Kelly Scott of Kelowna, B.C., and Eve Belsile of Montreal advanced to the quarter-finals through the A qualifier bracket while Saskatoon’s Stefanie Lawton, 2010 Olympic silver medallist Cheryl Bernard of Calgary and Edmonton’s Valerie Sweeting earned a spot in the final eight by winning their respective B qualifier finals.
Earlier in the day, Scott advanced to the playoffs with a 6-2 victory over defending champion and Capital One Cup points leader Jennifer Jones of Winnipeg in one of the A qualifier finals while Belsile secured a quarter-final berth with a 7-6 extra end decision over Heather Nedohin of Edmonton in the other A bracket final.
Both Scott and Belisle concluded preliminary round play with perfect 3-0 records.
Lawton easily advanced to the playoffs this evening after powering past Jones 9-1 in just three ends.
Jones, who is aiming for her fourth Players’ Championship title in the past five seasons, falls to the C qualifier bracket where she’ll face the winner of the match between Winnipeg’s Kerri Flett and Toronto’s Julie Hastings in an elimination match with one of the three remaining quarter-final berths at stake.
In the other two B qualifier finals, Bernard slid past fellow Calgary skip Crystal Webster 8-5 while Sweeting outlasted Nedohin 8-6. Both Webster and Nedohin will compete in their respective C qualifier final tomorrow.
Randy Ferbey’s Edmonton rink, playing in its final event as a foursome, is in danger of being eliminated from the tournament after falling to Howard 8-4 in the B qualifier bracket this evening.
Ferbey, who sits at 1-2, moved to the C qualifier bracket where he’ll play Edmonton’s Ted Appelman on Friday. A third loss by Ferbey at will mark the official end of the squad which captured three World Championship titles.