12°c Light drizzle
17°c Mainly cloudy
Winnipeg Free Press - ONLINE EDITION
McEwen crushes Olympics champ at Portage bonspiel
By Ashley Prest
PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE — The Mike McEwen team from Winnipeg and former Olympian Kevin Martin of Edmonton shook hands after four ends here on Sunday evening in their B-side qualifier as McEwen put up a 7-1 victory at the 2012 Canad Inns Prairie Classic men's curling bonspiel.
McEwen, with the hammer in the fourth end, scored four points and Martin's team immediately extended their hands. The abrupt end to the game cut short Shaw TV's live broadcast, which was expected to go six ends.
Martin appeared to be having trouble with his draw weight as his final two skip stones came up short and left the door open for McEwen.
"That doesn't happen too often against that team," said McEwen, who is the two-time defending Canad Inns Prairie Classic champion. "I feel bad for the next team they play against. They'll probably take it out on them!"
The win qualified the McEwen team for Monday's quarter-finals at 10 a.m. along with the Glenn Howard team from Coldwater, Ont., which beat the William Lyburn team from Winnipeg in the other B qualifier.
The Jeff Stoughton and Brad Gushue teams qualified from the A-side draw on Saturday. The four C-side qualifiers will be decided tonight at 8:30 p.m. In those games, Heath McCormick will meet Martin, Rob Fowler will take on John Epping, Mark Keen will play Kevin Koe and Niklas Edin will face Lyburn.
At the Fort Rouge Curling Club in Winnipeg at the 2012 Manitoba Lotteries Women's Curling Classic, A-side qualifiers were by the Jennifer Jones and Laura Crocker teams on Saturday. Taking the B-side qualifiers this afternoon were the Rachel Homan and Shannon Kleibrink teams. In tonight's C-side qualifiers at 7:30, Amber Holland will take on Stefanie Lawton, Margaretha Sigridsson will meet Cheryl Bernard, Barb Spencer will face Marie-France Larouche and defending champion Renee Sonnenberg will play Krista McCarville.
The women's semifinals are at 1:30 p.m. on Monday followed at 5 p.m. by the final. The winner earns a $15,000 prize out of the $60,000 total prize purse in the women's bonspiel.
At Portage on Monday, the men's semifinals are at 2 p.m. followed at 6 p.m. by the final. The men's event carries a $58,000 total prize purse with the winning team getting $18,000.
More Sports
- Back to Top
- Return to Sports
More Sports
(1 of 50 articles for this week)
NL Capsules
12:16 AM 0WASHINGTON - Jordan Zimmermann became the National League's first eight-game winner, and the Washington Nationals followed a calamitous road trip ...
Poll
Most Popular Sports
- Vigneault will be a man in demand
- Blue Bombers axe Green, Matechuk and Yenga
- Catching up with the Jets
- Burmistrov wants out of Winnipeg
- Sizzling offence, splendid pitching hallmarks of early success for Goldeyes
- What do you think the Winnipeg Jets should do with restricted free agent Alex Burmistrov?
- Yep, new stadium a beauty all right
- Season over for pesky Sens: Pittsburgh eliminates Ottawa from playoffs in Game 5
- Bombers cut Green, Yenga, Matechuk
- Blue Bombers sign their fourth round draft pick, receiver Michael DiCroce
- Burmistrov wants out of Winnipeg
- Big Blue will have one helluva punter
- Catching up with the Jets
- Tiger Woods says Garcia's 'fried chicken' remark hurtful; Garcia apologizes
- New Blue stadium lives up to the hype; now it's up to you
- Buck 'goes long' for Winnipeg
- Vigneault will be a man in demand
- Report: Garcia apologizes for saying he'd serve Woods "fried chicken"
- Bombers cut Green, Yenga, Matechuk
- What do you think the Winnipeg Jets should do with restricted free agent Alex Burmistrov?
- Enough of Buff: Get rid of him
- Burmistrov wants out of Winnipeg
- Bombers detail parking plan for new stadium
- For first time, Jets GM Cheveldayoff is poised to put stamp on the franchise
- Chevy's choice: Stick with Noel or pursue Vigneault
- Bomber boozers will change or they 'won't be here': GM Mack
- Young prospects will get every opportunity to stick with the big club: Cheveldayoff
- Jets' playoff hopes dealt fatal blow
- Hall turning heads at Bomber mini-camp
- CFL draft pick Mulumba would be proud to be a Bomber
- Chip Ganassi honours Alex Zanardi at Indy with presentation of Laguna Seca car
- One more time, with feeling
- Ballpark vendor fired after trip to bathroom
- Sharks try to shrug off Thursday's 3-0 loss to the Kings in Game 5
- Buck 'goes long' for Winnipeg
- Burmistrov wants out of Winnipeg
- Vigneault will be a man in demand
- Owl River opens to paddlers
- Russian oligarchs foot much of the bill for 2014 Olympics in Sochi as price of doing business
- Baby on the way for Olympic track athletes Nikkita Holder and Justyn Warner
- High school sniper keen to join MJHL Blues
- Chip Ganassi honours Alex Zanardi at Indy with presentation of Laguna Seca car
- At 39, veteran runner Diane Cummins showing no signs of slowing down
- 14-year-old Guan playing at Nelson, his second PGA Tour event since making cut at Masters
- Enough of Buff: Get rid of him
- Bombers detail parking plan for new stadium
- Buck 'goes long' for Winnipeg
- Winnipeg Jets among most expensive pro teams to watch
- Gerula gets title fight after long layoff
- Overton-Clapham moves back to third for Alberta rink
- Burmistrov wants out of Winnipeg
- It's broke - Fix it
- Overton-Clapham joining Alberta's Webster team
- Gryphons lose, but Founders keepers
Ads by Google
You can comment on most stories on winnipegfreepress.com. You can also agree or disagree with other comments. All you need to do is register and/or login and you can join the conversation and give your feedback.
Have Your Say
New to commenting? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions.
The Winnipeg Free Press does not necessarily endorse any of the views posted. By submitting your comment, you agree to our Terms and Conditions. These terms were revised effective April 16, 2010.