Two draws are in the books at the 2012 Sun Life Financial Players’ Championship, and given the small field – eight men’s teams and eight women’s teams – the early results are more important than in previous editions of this event.
For example, STOH champion and world bronze medallist Heather Nedohin of Edmonton is 0-2, after a 3-2 loss on Tuesday night to Switzerland’s Silvana Tirinzoni and a Wednesday morning loss to Winnipeg’ Cathy Overton-Clapham, who is now 2-0.
Remember, all Nedohin has to do to claim the second women’s CTRS (Canadian Team Rankings System) berth into the 2013 Canadian Olympic trials is win at least three of her seven round-robin games this week in P.E.I.
Now, that might seem easy enough to do for the reigning Canadian champions but, again, the field is small – and it boasts the top-ranked teams on the World Curling Tour this season. As such, the Ned Gang can’t be too pleased with their start in Summerside, PEI.
It’s Ontario’s Sherry Middaugh, along with Cathy O, who stand to benefit the most from any Nedohin struggles. Middaugh sits second in the CTRS points race and Cathy O sits third, which shows just how strong their seasons were despite both not competing in the Canada Cup nor the STOH/worlds.
And Middaugh also sits at 2-0 after wins over Chelsea Carey (Morden, Man.) and Eve Muirhead. The Scottish star is already at 0-2 after a great winning shot from Overton-Clapham on Tuesday night and an unfortunate pick this morning against Middaugh, which resulted in a steal of three – and which could have been five!
Fewer eyes might be on Saskatoon’s Stefanie Lawton coming into the event, but her troops are now 2-0 after a huge 7-2 victory over defending Players’ champion Jennifer Jones and another win (7-5) over the Swiss.
Jones, meanwhile, has just defeated arch-rival Carey (now 0-2) by a 7-6 count to even her record at 1-1.
Women's draw three continues at 10:00am local time while the men’s first draw begins, with Brad Gushue of St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador (with local P.E.I. hero Brett Gallant throwing third) taking on 2011 world champion Jeff Stoughton of Winnipeg, and Sweden’s Team Niklas Edin (with New Brunswick’s James Gratten replacing the injured skip) battling Brier finalist Kevin Koe of Edmonton.
Capital One photos copyright by Anil Mungal – click on images to increase viewing size