MEDICINE HAT, December 13…Europe won two of the three men’s team games Thursday night to close the margin on North America at the Continental Cup.

With victories by Andy Kapp (5-3 over Randy Ferbey) and Andreas Schwaller (4-2 over Todd Birr), Europe took 12 of the available 18 points and now trails North America 36-18 after Day 1.

In the other men’s game, reigning world champion Glenn Howard whacked two-time European champion and 2006 world title holder David Murdoch, 8-2, helped by steals of one in the third end and two in the fourth.

In the Kapp-Ferbey match, Kapp took a 4-3 lead with a deuce in the sixth end.   After a blanked seventh, Dave Nedohin, Ferbey’s fourth rock thrower, was forced to try a difficult angle raise double takeout with his last while trying for a winning deuce.  But he couldn’t remove another Kapp counter, which gave the 2007 world silver medallist from Germany a steal of one and the win.

North America began the fifth edition of the Continental Cup, being presented by Monsanto, in perfect fashion, winning all three Mixed Doubles matches in the opening draw to take an 18-0 lead.

In the afternoon, the home side continued its momentum by taking two of the three women’s team games to increase its margin to 30-6. 

On Friday morning at 9:30 am MST, the women take to the ice with Angelina Jensen facing Debbie McCormick, Kelly Wood meeting Kelly Scott and Liudmila Privivkova facing Jennifer Jones. 

Ironically, it’s the same pairings from Thursday afternoon’s team games, which saw McCormick whip Jensen, 8-3, Wood nip Scott, 8-6 and Jones edge Privivkova, 6-5.

In the 2:00 pm draw, the teams will play six Singles matches (three men’s and three women’s) while the evening session at 6:30 pm features three more men’s games, this time with Murdoch facing Ferbey, Kapp battling Birr and Schwaller taking on Howard.

The Continental Cup involves four disciplines within the sport, each worth a designated number of points - Team Games (72 points), Mixed Doubles (36 points), Singles (32 points) and Skins Games (260 points).   The first side to score 201 points is declared the winner. Each member of the winning side receives $2,000, while the losing side members get $1,400 each from the $88,400 total purse. 

Both sides are knotted at two wins apiece.   North America took the inaugural ‘Cup’ in Regina in 2002 and the 2004 renewal in Medicine Hat, when an attendance record of 42,317 was set.    Europe prevailed in 2003 in Thunder Bay and last year in Chilliwack, British Columbia.

CBC-TV will provide live coverage of the Continental Cup on Saturday, December 15 and Sunday, December 16, when the final men’s and women’s Skins Games take place.   CurlTV (www.curltv.com) is also offering event coverage to its subscribers.

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