2011 World Financial Group Continental Cup

ST. ALBERT, Alberta, December 16, 2010…The 2011 World Financial Group Continental Cup, presented by Monsanto, takes place January 13-16 at the Servus Credit Union Place in St. Albert, Alberta.

It marks the first year of title sponsorship by World Financial Group and the seventh edition of this unique international curling event, featuring teams from North America versus The World in a variety of competitions during the four days ­ Team Games, Mixed Doubles, Singles, Mixed Skins and Skins.

Each segment awards points for wins (or ties), with the first side to reach 201 points declared the winner. Currently, North America and Team World are knotted at three wins apiece since the inaugural Continental Cup was contested in 2002 in Regina. North America won in 2002, 2004 (in Medicine Hat) and 2007 (in Medicine Hat). Team World (then Team Europe) won in 2003 (in Thunder Bay), 2006 (in Chilliwack) and 2008 (in Camrose). There were no Continental Cups in 2005 and 2009.

North America will be represented by four teams from Canada and two from the United States ­ skipped by Edmonton¹s 2010 Olympic gold medallist Kevin Martin and the reigning men¹s world champion Kevin Koe, Calgary¹s Cheryl Bernard, winner of a silver medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and Winnipeg¹s Jennifer Jones, a four-time Canadian women¹s champion and

2008 Ford Worlds winner, along with the current U.S. national champions ­ Pete Fenson of Bemidji, Minnesota and Erika Brown, a Madison, Wisconsin native now living in Oakville, Ontario.

The captain is former world champion Neil Harrison of Newmarket, Ontario, while the coach will be three-time Brier and two-time world champion Rick Lang of Thunder Bay.

Team World will be led by two-time world champion skip David Murdoch of Lockerbie, Scotland; Norway¹s Thomas Ulsrud of Oslo, the 2010 Olympic silver medallist and winner of the recent European Championship in Champéry, Switzerland; Niklas Edin of Karlstad, Sweden; China¹s 2009 world women¹s champion and 2010 Olympic bronze medallist Bingyu Wang of Harbin; Germany¹s 2010 Ford World women¹s champion Andrea Schöpp of Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Switzerland¹s two-time Olympic silver medallist Mirjam Ott of Davos.

The captain for Team World is 2002 Olympic gold medallist Pål Trulsen of Norway while Sweden¹s Peja Lindholm, a three-time world champion, is the coach, the same positions they held when directing Team World to victory at the 2008 Continental Cup in Camrose, Alberta.

TSN, the exclusive television network for the Canadian Curling Association¹s Season of Champions, will provide complete coverage of the World Financial Group Continental Cup.

If you are planning to attend and require media credentials, please complete the attached media accreditation application and either email it to ac.gnilrucnull@nosmitj <mailto:jtimson@curling.ca> or fax it to 905-881-8322, by no later than January 4, 2011.

The World Financial Group Continental Cup, which is being staged in a new time slot this year after having been previously conducted in late November or early December, is a joint venture of the Canadian Curling Association, World Curling Federation and United States Curling Association.

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