Randy Ferbey tops Kevin Martin to win Players’ Championship
CALGARY — Randy Ferbey defeated Kevin Martin 8-6 in an all-Edmonton final to win the season-ending Players’ Championship.
It’s the second career Grand Slam of Curling championship for skip Ferbey, fourth David Nedohin, second Scott Pfeifer and lead Marcel Rocque and second in a row after also beating Martin’s squad to capture the Masters in February.
Ferbey collected $50,000 for the victory.
Team Ferbey went 2-2 during round-robin play and needed a 7-6 win over Jim Cotter in a tiebreaker to qualify for the playoffs. Ferbey edged John Morris 7-6 during the quarterfinals and Pat Simmons 8-7 in the semifinals.
Meanwhile, Martin qualified with a 3-1 record scoring an 8-3 win over Tom Brewster and a 7-5 victory over Pierre Charette to reach the final. Adam Enright filled in for Team Martin lead Don Bartlett.
NOTES: Winnipeg’s Jennifer Jones edged Calgary’s own Cheryl Bernard 10-8 in 11 ends to capture the inaugural Players’ Championship women’s title and $30,000. … It was a disappointing run for Olympic gold medallist Brad Gushue, who winless with a 0-4 round-robin record. … Changes came early for Jeff Stoughton’s squad. Ryan Fry got a head start joining the Winnipeg-based team replacing second Garry Van Den Berghe. Fry will move up to third next season with vice skip Jon Mead also planning to step back. Stoughton fell in the tiebreakers to Charette.
