Perfect Underdogs
October 10, 2009
- Article by Brad Norman
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After a full day of action at the Trail Appliances Curling Classic, we have eight teams with perfect records. But they're not who you may have expected. Even though this tournament features some of the world's most famous teams—like Jennifer Jones, Kelly Scott, and Bingyu Wang—the undefeated teams include underdog teams like Bobbie Sauder, Megan Kirk, Andrea Kelly and Eve Belisle.
Despite the few surprises, there are some familiar names still hanging on to perfect records. Mirjam Ott and Cheryl Bernard are both still in the "A" pool. They will meet on Saturday morning, meaning that one of the two teams will suffer their first loss.
Another team with a perfect record that has been rising nicely over the past few seasons in Amber Holland. The Saskatchewan team shocked curling fans back in 2008 when they won the Players Championship, when they were a relatively unknown team. Holland has been continuing to turn heads ever since. She started off this weekend's event with a big win over Heather Nedohin and followed it up by beating the Northwest Territories superstar, Kerry Galusha.
Another interesting surprise in this event is that Cathy King's team has yet to register a win. There was high hopes for the Alberta-based team after they added the very talented Kaitlyn Lawes to their lineup. But they were edged out by Barb Spencer in an extra end during their first match of the Grand Slam, and then were upset again by Jill Mouzar in their second game. With this triple knock-out format, the King rink can handle only one more loss until they're sent home. And their third game won't be an easy one. They're up against Marla Mallet, who made a name for herself with her incredible Tournament of Hearts run last year.
The action continues today, and will give us our first playoff qualifiers in this evening's draw.
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