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KAMLOOPS, B. Rod Woodson Womens Jersey .C. -- Two veteran skips were both left scratching their heads at the Canadian mens curling championships Saturday night, as a change in ice conditions saw crucial draw attempts in an extra end fall at least five metres short of the house. Newfoundland and Labradors Brad Gushue, who lost the game 6-5 to Manitobas Jeff Stoughton, was more than a little peeved as the opening day of the Tim Hortons Brier ended. Gushue expressed his clear frustrations with the ice conditions. "They lost the ice," said Gushue, the 2006 Olympic gold medallist who, like Stoughton, is curling in his 11th Brier. "You see two world class skips throw draws to the four foot that end up 20-feet light. Its embarrassing. I think the ice is just (terrible). Its unfortunate that it came down to that." He said he saw it happen to a lesser degree in an earlier game between Albertas Kevin Koe and B.C.s John Morris. Stoughton was just as mystified. "We were going to draw probably half in the top four and I let it go, the guys said good weight and it just ground in," he said. Although, for him, the result was a little more satisfying as he left his shot stone in the house to win the game. "I guess that side of the sheet got lost somehow but well take it. We had one in there and he missed both his last two shots, what are you going to do?" Stoughton and Morris sit at the top of the standings with two wins apiece after Saturdays draw, followed by Brier rookie Greg Balsdon from Ontario and Steve Laycock from Saskatchewan with one win each. Gushue joined Northern Ontarios Jeff Currie at 1-1 while five rinks were winless after one game, Alberta, New Brunswick, The Northwest Territories-Yukon, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Quebec. In the evening draw, Morris beat Currie 8-2 in eight ends, after struggling earlier to edge Albertas Koe 7-6. Currie split the day, beating New Brunswicks Jamie Grattan 13-5 in the opener. Balsdon opened his first Brier by topping Quebec veteran Jean-Michel Menard 9-7 and Saskatchewans Laycock beat the Northwest Territories-Yukons Jamie Koe (Kevins brother) 8-5. Morris, curling for his third province at the Brier, was glad to get off to a good start. "The first one was a little tough on the melon, that one was a little nicer," he said, referring to the difference in the two games. "We played a little better this team, a good solid team effort." He also said he found the ice on the sheet he played on a little more consistent at night. Laycock said his first win wasnt without its scary moments. "Especially in nine there, there was a chance we could have blown a three-point lead in a hurry," he said. "It was nice to sneak out of that with only giving up two." He scored two in the final end to seal it. So did Balsdon, playing in his first Brier after managing to beat Ontario veteran Glen Howard to win the right. "We all felt pretty comfortable. The speed was good, the ice was very consistent, what youd expect from the Brier," he said. He says it helps in a way being a rookie. "Because Im a rookie here I dont really feel a whole lot of pressure for myself and the team. . . Were just hoping to scrap out some games." Jack Lambert Jersey . With four remaining Olympic berths up for grabs, Canadas Peng Peng Lee, Kristina Vaculik, Victoria Moors, Talia Chiarelli, Brittany Rogers and Madeline Gardiner finished second overall with a combined 221. Dermontti Dawson Womens Jersey . Froch retained his WBA and IBF titles with a ninth-round stoppage against Groves in Manchester on Nov. 23. Groves launched an appeal, saying referee Howard Foster stopped the fight prematurely, and the IBF then ordered a rematch.BRISBANE, Australia -- After pulling out of the Brisbane International with injuries in recent seasons, Maria Sharapova is aiming to use the season-opening tournament this time as a springboard for her comeback and to see how her new support crew works in competition. Sharapova has only played one match since an early exit at Wimbledon due to a right shoulder injury and has spent months working with her new coach Sven Groeneveld. She arrived in Australia to prepare for the first major of the season with her boyfriend and fellow professional Grigor Dimitrov, who returns after losing the final here to Andy Murray last season. Serena Williams won the last Brisbane title and is back to defend it, hoping she hasnt lost any of the momentum from a stunning 2013 season when she won 11 titles including the French and U.S. Opens, had 78 wins from 82 matches -- including a 34-match winning streak -- and collected more than $12 million in prize money. Her brief off-season was not exactly business as usual -- although it was commercial. She trained in Florida with her father, Richard, so she could be close to home for the relaunch of one of her companies and to hire a CEO for it. "I was interviewing so many people. Corporate Serena was taking over," she told a news conference Sunday. "Im happy to be here right now." Corporate Serena conducted at least 10 interviews, and still has at least one more to do. She expects it to be a tough interview, like they all are. "I definitely am not easy ... Im a tough interviewer. For me, its all about business and removing a lot of emotion," she said. "I just want to get to the point." And that brings her back to tennis, where she can turn the corporate email account off for a while and concentrate on what she does best. "I took a couple weeks off, but I was already itching to get back on the court," she said. "I didnt want to lose any rhythm or anything. Didnt want to lose momentum." No. 3-seeded Sharapova is in Williams half of the draw, meaning they could meet in the semifinals. The Brisbane tournament will be Sharapovas only warmup for the Australian Open, which starts Jan. 13, so she needs to find her rhythm quickly. Franco Harris Jersey. She said shed been practicing hard, but also concentrating on relaxing when shes off the court. Traveling with Dimitrov has helped, she said, despite or because of their major common interest. "Of course we share a lot of the same things just because we have an elephant in the room thats called tennis," Sharapova said Sunday. "But there are so many other things to life that are besides tennis, and there are a lot more things to discuss than forehands and backhands and strings and rackets, which we share similar ideas and things of." Sharapova split with coach Thomas Hogstedt after her Wimbledon loss, and said she wasnt in the right frame of mind to work with Jimmy Connors long term -- that partnership lasted one match. "You have to realize that the decisions you make, you have to make them selfishly in this business to be better, to know whats right for you," she said. "From the first time we met I really liked what (Groeneveld) had to say. Hes a team player. He works with everyone on my team, something I was missing for a little bit of time." In first-round results at Brisbane: Wimbledon finalist Sabine Lisicki had a 6-3, 6-4 win over Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia; Andrea Petkovic of Germany beat American Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-4, 7-5; Japanese veteran Kimiko Date-Krumm won 6-3, 7-5 over Australias Olivia Rogowska; and Swiss player Stefanie Vogele beat American Madison Keys 6-4, 6-3. Former No. 1-ranked Caroline Wozniacki withdrew after hurting her right shoulder in practice but said she expected to be fit the Sydney International next week. While Serena Williams gets a first-round bye in Brisbane, her older sister Venus Williams will be in action from the first round at the WTA event in Auckland on Monday when she plays 134-ranked Andrea Hlavackova of the Czech Republic. In Hopman Cup Group B action at Perth, Petra Kvitova and Radek Stepanek combined to give the Czech Republic a 3-0 win over Spain. Kvitova only lost one game en route to a comprehensive singles win over Anabel Medina Garrigues before Stepanek beat Daniel Munoz-De La Nava 6-2, 6-2. The Czech pair won the mixed doubles 6-3, 6-4. cheap jerseys ' ' ' |
