FERBEY, TRULSEN HEAD FORD WORLD MEN¹S CURLING CHAMPIONSHIP IN VICTORIA

Canada¹s Randy Ferbey and Norway¹s Pål Trulsen top the line-up for the Ford World Men¹s Curling Championship, April 2-10 in Victoria, British Columbia at the new Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre. It¹s the 11th year of Ford of Canada¹s sponsorship of the men¹s world championship. However, for the first time since 1988, the men¹s and women¹s championships are being conducted separately. The world women¹s concluded Sunday in Paisley, Scotland, with Sweden¹s Anette Norberg emerging victorious. In addition, 12 countries, instead of the previous 10, will now compete for global honours while the Page Playoff format, used at the Scott Tournament of Hearts and Tim Hortons Brier, has now been adopted for the world men¹s and women¹s events by the World Curling Federation, replacing the traditional 1 vs 4 and 2 vs 3 semi-final match-ups. The Page Playoff format pairs 1 vs 2 and 3 vs 4 at the conclusion of the round robin. The winner of 1 vs 2 advances directly to Sunday¹s final, while the loser goes to Saturday¹s semi-final. Meanwhile, the winner of 3 vs 4 also goes to the semi-final, while the loser is eliminated. Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, Scotland, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States will compete at the 2005 Ford World Men¹s Curling Championship. Ferbey¹s record-setting Edmonton foursome will be trying to win a leading 29th title for Canada since 1959. Ferbey won a record sixth Brier in mid-March in his hometown, edging Nova Scotia¹s Shawn Adams, 5-4 in the final. The 45-year-old Ferbey has won three world titles in his five appearances as third for Pat Ryan in 1989 (in Milwaukee), then as skip for his team of Dave Nedohin, Scott Pfeifer and Marcel Rocque in 2002 (in Bismarck) and 2003 (in Winnipeg). Trulsen will be making his eighth appearance as skip at the Worlds and while he¹s never won the event, he did earn a silver medal in 2002 and bronze medals in 2001 and 2003. His crowning moment, though, came at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City (Ogden), when he stole one in the 10th end to defeat Canada¹s Kevin Martin and claim the gold medal. Switzerland¹s Andreas Schwaller earned a silver medal at the 2001 Ford Worlds in Lausanne, losing to Sweden¹s Peja Lindholm in the final and then won a bronze medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics. Finland¹s Markku Uusipaavalniemi is a two-time (1998, 2000) Worlds bronze medallist while Germany¹s Andy Kapp won a Worlds silver medal in 1997 and two bronze medals, in 1994 and 1995. Completing the field are Hugh Millikin, a North Vancouver native who skips Australia and will be making his eighth Worlds appearance, Denmark (Johnny Frederiksen), Italy (Stefano Ferronato), New Zealand (Sean Becker), Scotland (David Murdoch), Sweden (Eric Carlsén) and United States (Pete Fenson). CBC-TV and its digital channel, Country Canada, along with The Score, will team up to provide daily television coverage across Canada of the 2005 Ford World Men¹s Curling Championship. The semi-final will be played Saturday, April 9 at 11:00 am PT/2:00 pm ET, while the final is slated for Sunday, April 10 at 9:30 am PT/12:30 pm ET, both of which can be seen live on CBC-TV. Eurosport will also air daily highlight packages and coverage of various draws. The headquarters hotel is the Fairmont Empress, tel. 250-384-8111, while the curlers are staying at the Harbour Towers, tel: 250-385-2405. The media room phone numbers at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre will be 250-220-2684/85, as of Friday, April 1. The Opening Ceremonies take place at 9:00 am Saturday morning, prior to the first draw at 11:00 am PT. Draw results will be instantly available on the World Curling Federation (www.worldcurling.org ), Canadian Curling Association (www.curling.ca) and host committee(www.fordworldcurling.com) websites. Canada has hosted 17 men¹s World Curling Championships, including 2005. This will mark the fifth time that British Columbia has hosted a men¹s, women¹s or both world championships. Vancouver hosted the 1966 and 1987 men¹s, Kamloops staged the 1998 Ford Worlds men¹s and women¹s championships while Kelowna hosted the 1986 women¹s. The last major curling event staged in Victoria was the 1984 Labatt Brier. 2005 FORD WORLD MEN¹S CURLING CHAMPIONSHIP APRIL 2-10, SAVE-ON-FOODS MEMORIAL CENTRE, VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA AUSTRALIA ­ Sydney Harbour CC, Sydney Hugh Millikin (third stones) Ian Palangio (fourth stones) John Theriault Stephen Johns Steve Hewitt Earle Morris CANADA ­ Granite CC, Edmonton Randy Ferbey (third stones) David Nedohin (fourth stones) Scott Pfeifer Marcel Rocque Dan Holowaychuk Brian Moore DENMARK ­ Hvidovre CC, Hvidovre Johnny Frederiksen Lars Vilandt Kenneth Hertsdahl Bo Jensen Ivan Frederiksen René Arnsfelt FINLAND ­ Oulunkylä CC, Helsinki Markku Uusipaavalniemi Wille Mäkelä Kalle Kiiskinen Teemu Salo Perttu Piilo Jari Laukkanen GERMANY­ Curling Club Füssen, Füssen Andy Kapp Uli Kapp Oliver Axnick Holger Höhne Andreas Kempf Dick Henderson ITALY­ CC Dolomiti, Cortina d¹Ampezzo Stefano Ferronato Fabio Alvera Marco Mariani Alessandro Zisa Joel Retornaz Rodger Schmidt NEW ZEALAND ­ Ranfurly CC, Ranfurly Sean Becker Hans Frauenlob Dan Mustapic Lorne DePape Warren Dobson Peter Becker NORWAY ­ Stabekk CC, Oslo Pål Trulsen Lars Vågberg Flemming Davanger Bent Ånund Ramsfjell Niels Siggaard Andersen Ole Ingvaldsen SCOTLAND­ Lockerbie CC, Lockerbie David Murdoch Craig Wilson Neil Murdoch Euan Byers Ewan MacDonald Tom Pendreigh SWEDEN ­ Härnösands CK, Härnosand Eric Carlsén Andreas Prytz Daniel Prytz Patric Håkansson Mathias Carlsson Fredrik Hallström SWITZERLAND ­ Baden Regio-Privera CC, Baden Andreas Schwaller Markus Eggler Marco Ramstein Christof Schwaller Stefan Karnusian Roland Moser UNITED STATES ­ Bemidji CC, Bemidji, Minnesota Pete Fenson Shawn Rojeski Joe Polo John Shuster Scott Baird Robert Fenson -30- Jeff Timson Media, Canadian Curling Association Tel/fax: 905-881-8322 jeff@curling.ca -- Jeff Timson Media Canadian Curling Association Tel/fax: 905-881-8322 jeff@curling.ca or jtimson5213@rogers.com