Cheryl Bernard caps season winning Players’ Championship
DAWSON CREEK, B.C. — Olympic silver medallist Cheryl Bernard closed out the season on a high note capturing the Players’ Championship and Capital One Cup titles.
Bernard scored three points in the final end to lift her team to a 6-4 win over Crystal Webster during Saturday’s all-Calgary rink women’s final.
The team of Bernard, third Susan O’Connor, second Carolyn Darbyshire and lead Cori Bartel won $25,000 and earned 45.000 Canadian Team Ranking System (CTRS) points plus an additional $50,000 for the Capital One Cup, awarded to the season’s overall Grand Slam champion based on bonus points.
For Bernard, who took home the silver at this year’s Vancouver Winter Games, it was all about proving her team’s Olympic run wasn’t a fluke.
“After coming off the Olympics, winning the Trials, I think we just wanted to come out and prove that wasn’t just a one-off thing,” Bernard said. “We are having a good year and this is something we wanted to show. It was really important not to show any complacency. Not to just come out and say that was good enough. The Olympics was good enough. I’m proud of us for that.”
Tied 3-3 through five ends, Webster stole one in the sixth to grab her first lead of the game when Bernard’s final draw shot rolled heavy. Bernard blanked the seventh to retain the hammer coming home and set the table for the dramatic final end.
Bernard nailed a double takeout with her first shot to sit three and didn’t even need to throw her last as Webster’s attempt to draw into the four-foot circle was heavy.
“She made a really nice shot with her first one in eight and I was a little hot with both of mine, which I think really cost us,” said Webster, who earned $16,000 and 30.000 CTRS points for finishing runner-up.
NOTES: Earlier Saturday, both teams squeaked their way into the final with Bernard edging Montreal’s Eve Belisle 6-5 in an extra end while Webster slipped past Saskatoon’s Stefanie Lawton 6-5 in regulation. … Bernard qualified for the playoffs through the B side while Webster slid through the C bracket in the 16-team, all-Canadian triple knockout. … Liudmilla Privivkova of Russia was scheduled to compete in the Players’ Championship, but withdrew when her team was unable to obtain travel visas in time. Winnipeg’s Chelsea Carey was a late addition to the field as the 16th seed.
