Martin, Howard quick to qualify at World Cup of Curling
Last Updated: Friday, October 23, 2009 | 3:45 AM ET
CBC Sports
Kevin Martin is unbeaten at 4-0 at the World Cup of Curling. (Andrew Vaughan/Canadian Press)Just five draws in, Kevin Martin and Glenn Howard clinched playoff berths Thursday at the World Cup of Curling in Mississauga, Ont.
The two superstar skips lead their respective pools with 4-0 records, while Kevin Koe (3-0) of Edmonton is the other unbeaten skip in the event.
Martin, the reigning Canadian champion out of Edmonton, doubled France's Thomas Dufour 6-3 and China's Fengchun Wang 8-4 before edging Norway's Thomas Ulsrud 5-4 in an extra end at the Hershey Centre.
After Ulsrud tied it 3-3 in the eighth on a slick, raised takeout off his own stone, Martin clinched the win in the ninth on a straight-line takeout for one.
"We're pretty consistent," Martin said. "But we're not curling really, really well.
"There is definitely room for improvement. We messed up a few shots … but I would say we're fairly consistent team-wise."
Howard, from Coldwater, Ont., secured a playoff berth with a 4-1 triumph over struggling Brad Gushue (1-3) of St. John's, N.L.
Tied 2-2, Howard broke it open with a triple in the fourth and three more points in the sixth.
"Obviously, the first accomplishment is trying to get yourself into the playoffs," Howard said. "If you get into the quarter-finals, it does not matter where you land — you're in the quarter-finals and that is right where you want to be."
Earlier in the day, Howard posted a 9-3 win over Denmark's Ulrik Schmidt and an 8-3, six-end pasting of Scotland's David Murdoch, the reigning world champion yet still winless in the tournament.
"He [Murdoch] is the reigning world champion, it doesn't get any better than that," Howard said. "We know they're one of the top teams in the world and we knew we would have to be on top of our game.
"We were ready for this, for sure. We were definitely up for it."
'We played real good early to get up'
Koe extended his winning streak to three, beating Ulsrud 6-4 in seven ends and 7-6 over Randy Ferbey in an extra end.
"We played real good early to get up," said Koe. "Then we missed some shots that we normally don't miss.
"Some big weight shots. We could have won the game early but he [Ferbey] is great.
"They made a number of freezes. But we got the win."
Ferbey's foursome, also from Edmonton, coughe dup four points in the seventh in falling 8-3 to Niklas Edin of Sweden.
Trailing 4-3, Dave Nedohin, who throws skip rock for Ferbey, picked on a draw for one, handing Edin a steal for four.
CBCSports.ca has live web streaming of four games, all featuring Canadian rinks, on Friday, starting at 9:20 a.m. ET.
With files from The Canadian Press
