Curling

Reigning Olympic champion Brad Gushue and his team from St. John's, Nfld., are off to a solid start in their quest to earn a shot at qualifying for their second straight Olympics.

The boys from The Rock opened Day 1 of action at the Road to the Roar in Prince George, B.C., with an 8-5 victory over Greg McAulay of Richmond, B.C.

The four-day Canadian curling pre-trials event will see the top four men's and women's teams who emerge from the triple knock-out format earn berths in next month's Olympic trials in Edmonton.  

Second seed Wayne Middaugh of Toronto, On., - a two-time world and brier champion - lost his first-round match to Pat Simmons (10) of Davidson, Sask., who is now undefeated at 2-0.

Middaugh was trailing 7-6 and had the hammer in the 10th end, but Simmons managed to score a two-point steal to secure the win. Earlier Tuesday Simmons beat No. 7 seed Jean-Michel Menard of St-Romauld, Que., 7-4.

After a victory this afternoon over Edmonton's Ted Appleman (8), Bob Ursel of Kelowna, B.C., was handed his first loss of the bonspiel courtesy of its No. 1 seed, Jeff Stoughton of Winnipeg.

Ursel (9) conceded after eight ends as Stoughton scored five in the eighth to claim a 7-1 victory.

No. 4 seed Mike McEwen got off to a solid start, taking down fellow Winnipegger Kerry Burtnyk, 8-2.

Burtnyk (5) conceded after seven ends of play against McEwen, who boasted a near-perfect shot percentage of 98 and put up four points in the fourth end to take a commanding lead.

Burnyk is now 1-1 after beating Manitoba's Jason Gunnlaugson 8-3 over eight ends in his opening round game Tuesday afternoon. McAulay also sits at 1-1 after beating Joel Jordison of Moose Jaw, Sask., Tuesday afternoon.

On the women's side of the draw earlier Tuesday, the second, third and fourth-seeded teams all lost their opening round games.

Women's top seed Kelly Scott managed to earn an extra-ends victory, but Sherry Middaugh (2), Marie-France Larouche (3) and Michelle Englot (4) were all upset.

Rachel Homan, Crystal Webster and former Olympic trials runner-up Sherry Anderson are now all 2-0.

Ottawa's Homan, the No. 6 seed, remains undefeated after she beat Larouche of St-Romuald, Que., 7-4. 

Homan, 20, beat Eve Belisle in her opening round game earlier Tuesday.

Larouche got on the board first with three points in the opening end, but Homan tied it up in the second and steadily put up points, including steals of a single in the sixth and eighth ends, to secure the win.

Sherry Middaugh, of Coldwater, Ont., fell to seventh seeded Webster of Calgary, 7-5, moving Webster to 2-0 after an opening round win over Amber Holland of Kronau, Sask.

Kelowna, B.C.'s Scott, a former world champion, needed some late-game heroics and an extra end to secure an 8-7 victory over Edmonton's Cathy King.

King, seeded No. 6, was leading 7-5 heading into the final end, but Scott scored two points to force an 11th and added a single to win her opening round match.

"The first half of the game we were throwing great and I was giving the wrong ice,'' said Scott. "We just had to learn the ice. We didn't play on this morning's draw so it takes a little bit to figure out the ice. We just stayed calm and found a way to win and I hope it serves as a springboard.''

King is now 1-1 after winning her opening round game earlier Tuesday, a 9-6 victory over Krista McCarville of Thunder Bay, Ont.

Anderson of Saskatoon, the 12th seed, scored a 10-7 extra-ends win over Englot of Regina.

Anderson was up by two heading into the 10th end, but Englot scored two points to force an 11th, where Anderson scored three to remain undefeated.

She delivered her shot with less than 25 seconds left on her shot clock.

"I was just glad I had shot because we didn't have a lot of time to think about it,'' Anderson said. "I had to get through that hole and I just about didn't. We were never ever down in that game and you hate to lose that kind.''

Anderson and Scott meet Wednesday in the A bracket semifinal.

"You say, OK we got the break there, we got the win so let's keep it going,'' said Anderson. "We didn't have our best game there. We played better earlier today. So when you can win a game like that and you're not firing on all cylinders it helps, too.''

Earlier Tuesday Anderson beat Heather Rankin of Calgary 8-5.

Teams already qualified for Canada's Olympic trials on the women's side are Jennifer Jones, Cheryl Bernard, Shannon Kleibrink and Stefanie Lawton.

On the men's side, Glenn Howard, Kevin Martin, Kevin Koe and Randy Ferbey have already earned berths.

-With files from The Canadian Press