Alberta earns berth into Brier final

NEWS RELEASES

CANADIAN CURLING ASSOCIATION

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Alberta steals its way to championship game Alberta's Kevin Martin is headed to the championship game at the Tim Hortons Brier Canadian men's curling championship in Winnipeg.

Martin, backed up by third John Morris, second Marc Kennedy and lead Ben Hebert, turned back Saskatchewan's Pat Simmons 8-7 Friday night at the MTS Centre in the Page playoff one-two game.

Alberta trailed 6-3 through five ends when Saskatchewan stole deuces in the first and fifth ends.

But Alberta fought back with a deuce in the eighth and stole single points in the ninth and 10th ends for the win. Simmons had an open hit to record the victory, but his last rock caught some debris.

"I feel bad for Pat," said Martin. "They deserved to win that game. We put the last one in a good spot, but he threw that plenty good enough to win. That's the way it is. We played like dogs, we made nothing in the first five ends. But the last five, we came back and put the heat on them."

Martin will be seeking his third Brier title, while his teammates will be looking for their first.

The win advances Alberta to the 6:30 p.m. (all times Eastern) final on CBC.

Saskatchewan, meanwhile, will play in the semifinal Saturday at 2:30 p.m. on CBC against reigning Brier and world champion Glenn Howard of Ontario.

The Brier winner will represent Canada at the world men's curling championship, April 5 to 13 in Grand Forks, N.D. *****************************

Ontario moves on to semifinal Ontario's Glenn Howard is still alive in a bid to repeat as Brier and world men's curling champion.

Howard and his Coldwater and District Curling Club foursome — third Richard Hart, second Brent Laing and lead Craig Savill — turned back B.C.'s Bob Ursel 9-7 on Friday afternoon in the Page playoff three-four game at the Tim Hortons Brier in Winnipeg.

The teams traded deuces in the first four ends before Ontario was held to one in the fifth end to go up 5-4. In the sixth, B.C. had a shot at a go-ahead deuce but last-rock tosser Jim Cotter was just wide with his shot and gave Ontario a steal of one.

Then in the eighth end, Howard negotiated a tight port to raise his rock onto a B.C. counter to score three.

"I don't blame (B.C.) for leaving the shot," said Howard. "You have to throw it perfect, and I said, 'If I have a bucket of balls, I'm only getting through there once.' Fortunately, we swept it perfectly and it got through, and it was a three-banger. I guess that was the game."

With the win, Ontario advances to Saturday's semifinal at 2:30 p.m. (all times Eastern) on CBC against the loser of Friday night's Page playoff one-two game.

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B.C. survives fourth-place tiebreaker B.C.'s Bob Ursel has advanced to the Page playoff three-four game at the Tim Hortons Brier Canadian men's curling championship in Winnipeg.

B.C. opened the game by stealing three in the first end and hung on for an 8-6 win over Newfoundland/Labrador's Brad Gushue in a fourth-place tiebreaker at the MTS Centre.

With the win, Ursel, third (and last-rock tosser) Jim Cotter, second Kevin Folk and lead Rick Sawatsky advance to today's Page three-four game against defending Brier and world champion Glenn Howard of Ontario.

"We've been in a tiebreaker (situation) since Game 3, so that was just another one," said Ursel. "We're coming on, we're playing pretty strong, so we should give those guys (Ontario) a pretty good game."

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