THURSDAY OCTOBER 31, 2013
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Rock stars hit the ice Curlers from 13 nations chase $200,000 in prize money
Dan KINVIG
CHANGE YOUR CLOCKS
Abbotsford News
The Masters Grand Slam of Curling, which began its sixday run at the Abbotsford Entertainment and Sports Centre (AESC) on Tuesday evening, is being billed as an Olympic preview, and for good reason. The $200,000 cashspiel has attracted 15 men’s and 15 women’s teams from 13 nations. Nine international rinks have already punched their tickets to the Winter Games in Sochi, Russia in February, and all six men’s and six women’s rinks who pre-qualified for the Canadian trials are also in attendance. But ask defending Olympic men’s gold medalist Kevin Martin if this event gets visions of Sochi dancing in his mind, and he shakes his head. That would be getting ahead of himself. It’s hard enough just to survive the Canadian Olympic trials, which will be contested in Winnipeg Dec. 1-8. “It’s all about the trials,” said the 47-year-old curling legend, who also owns four Canadian MORINEE Brier titles, one world championship (2008) and ONLws.com an Olympic silver (2002) in addition to his gold abbyne from the 2010 Vancouver Games. “It’s not really about international (play) yet. That’s for later, and for one (Canadian) team – hopefully us, but who knows?” Martin, who was edged 7-6 in an extra end by Rui Liu’s Chinese Olympic rink in the opening draw, headlined a parade of rock stars on Tuesday night. In the other men’s game, Scotland’s David Murdoch – a twotime world champion skip – built a 4-0 lead over Winnipeg’s Mike McEwen and hung on for a 5-4 win. On the women’s side, Switzerland’s Mirjam Ott edged Eve Muirhead of Scotland in a battle of the last two world championship gold medalists. Ott, the winner in 2012, beat reigning champ Muirhead 7-6 in an extra end. Sweden’s Margaretha Sigfridsson, a four-time runner-up at the worlds, also needed an extra end versus 2012 world bronze medalist Heather Nedohin of Edmonton, winning 5-4. Jennifer Jones of Winnipeg, the 2008 world champ, scored six in the seventh end to dispatch South Korea’s Ji-Sun Kim 11-5. The Masters marks the first time the AESC has been converted into a curling venue, and Martin lauded the conditions. “The ice is gorgeous,” he said.
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Standard time returns this weekend. Set your clocks back one hour before heading to bed Saturday
REPAIR WORK CONTINUES A7 Crews estimate repairs will be completed to the Norrish water pipe by December
READY FOR TIP-OFF A17 UFV’s basketball teams host their home openers this weekend
MAZDA 3
Letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A9
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Q Viewpoint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A8 Q Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A29
JOHN MORROW Abbotsford News
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Kevin Martin, the gold medal-winning skip at the 2010 Olympics, keeps close tabs on his Chinese opponent Rui Liu during Masters Grand Slam of Curling on Tuesday. The event continues through Sunday at the AESC. Go to abbynews.com for video and daily coverage.
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