World Curling Tour Draws Near


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World Curling Tour Draws Near

August 11, 2008

There are only a few weeks left until the first event on the World Curling Tour schedule, which will officially kick off the 2008-09 Curling Season. We got a taste of what to expect last month as some of the world's greatest played a promotional event in Russia. But the Baden Masters, taking place at the Curling Center Baden from September 5th to the 6th, will be the first event to dish out cash to count towards this year's money list.

The Baden Masters will hand out a decent purse, awarding the championship team 10, 000 Swiss Francs, which translates into over $9,800 in Canadian dollars. This is up somewhat from last year's event, which paid out a first place prize of just over $8,800 (Canadian dollars).

This tournament has been kind to Canadians lately. The last year years the top prize was claimed by a Canadian, with Brad Guhsue winning it last year, and Kerry Burtnyk taking it in 2006. But don't except the streak to continue for Canada this year, as there's not a single team from the Great White North competing in this year's Baden Masters. Before the Canadian run, the Swiss team skipped by Andreas Schwaller who won two straight Baden Masters.

Although Schaller's rink will compete again this year, he's going to have some tough competition. Winner of last month's St. Petersburg Cup, David Murdoch, will be looking to keep his unbeaten streak alive at the Baden Masters. Another team which competed at the St. Petersburg Cup, Thomas Ulsrud's squad from Norway, will also be in attendance. Ulsrud's team came in third at last year's World Curling Championship and was very disappointed with their performance in Russia last month, failing to win a single game. But they will be looking to get back on track with a good run in Switzerland.

The event will consist of eight end games arranged into a triple knock-out format. The action all starts September 5th. Stay with Curling Scoops for all the scores and updates.