Harnden splits a pair of Tuesday games

NEWS RELEASES

CANADIAN CURLING ASSOCIATION

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Manitoba Improves to 6-1 HAMILTON -- Manitoba’s Jeff Stoughton took over sole posession of first place here at the Tim Hortons Brier Tuesday afternoon, dropping PEI’s Peter Gallant 7-5.

The win improved Stoughton to 6-1 and puts him alone in first place, at least temporarily, heading into the Tuesday evening draw here at Copps Coliseum.

But Manitoba has Ontario breathing down their necks. Glenn Howard’s foursome were idle Tuesday afternoon and have a game in hand on Manitoba when they go into Tuesday evening’s draw looking to improve their 5-1 record against PEI’s Gallant.

“We want to get to eight wins as soon as we can and anything after that is a bonus,” said Stoughton. “So tomorrow’s a big day for us.”

Stoughton is idle Tuesday night but plays Saskatchewan and BC on Wednesday.

In other games Tuesday afternoon, Newfoundland’s Brad Gushue beat Northern Ontario’s Al Harnden 10-8, Alberta’s Kevin Martin beat Nova Scotia’s Mark Kehoe 9-8 in an extra end and Saskatchewan’s Pat Simmons beat BC’s Dean Joanisse 9-3.

“We need a bunch more (wins),” said Simmons, “but that’s a good start.”

Simmons improved to 4-3 with the victory.

The draw was played before Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Harper arrived before the draw, met with Alberta’s Kevin Martin and his team and accepted a souvenir Martin shirt, and then took his seat behind home end, surrounded by a phalanx of security.

He stayed for the entire draw, including the extra end between Newfoundland and Northern Ontario.

”That was cool,” Martin said of meeting the PM. “That’s something I’ll remember, that’s for sure.”

The Brier continues Tuesday evening when Alberta plays Yukon/NWT, Newfoundland plays Quebec, BC plays New Brunswick and PEI plays Ontario.

The draw will be carried live on TSN, beginning at 7:30 p.m..

The top four teams at the conclusion of the round robin Thursday evening go on to play in the page playoffs, which begins Friday. ***********************

Manitoba, Ontario Alone at the Top HAMILTON -- Manitoba’s Jeff Stoughton and Ontario’s Glenn Howard have begun to pull away from the pack here at the Tim Hortons Brier Tuesday morning.

Stoughton defeated New Brunswick’s Paul Dobson 10-5, while Howard beat Saskatchewan’s Pat Simmons 8-6 to improve both teams to 5-1 and take over first place.

Yukon/NWT’s Jamie Koe had a share of first place heading into Tuesday morning but he was beaten 8-7 by Northern Ontario’s Al Harnden to drop to 4-2. Harnden improved to 3-3.

In the only other game on Draw 9, Quebec’s Pierre Charette defeated Nova Scotia’s Mark Kehoe 7-6. Charette improved to 3-3, Nova Scotia fell to 2-4.

Simmons was leading 4-3 when he gave up a steal of two in the seventh end that proved to the difference.

The skip blamed himself afterward for the loss. “I’ve got to play better personally,” Simmons said. “Hopefully, it’s behind us now.

"We have to rebound quick here.”

The loss to Ontario dropped Simmons to 3-3. Conventional wisdom at Canadian curling championships is that three losses or less guarantees a playoff spot, four losses generally guarantees a tiebreaker and nothing’s guaranteed after that.

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