Heather Nedohin has done a lot of living since her last appearance at a womens world curling championship 14 years ago. Dustin Byfuglien Winnipeg Jets Jersey . But the skip of the national womens champion says while career, marriage and children happened in the interim, her will to win never left her. "You blink and go has it been that long?" Nedohin asks. "It sure doesnt feel like it. "You keep persisting and pursuing and before you know it, years pass and you keep aiming for that goal. Im so pleased that as a female with career and family aspirations that I still continued my sporting aspirations." Nedohin, third Beth Iskiw, second Jessica Mair, lead Laine Peters and alternate Amy Nixon open the Ford World Womens Curling Championship in Lethbridge, Alta., on Saturday versus the United States. Canadian women may have won a leading 15 world titles, but the country has earned only three in the last 10 years: Jennifer Jones (2008); Kelly Scott (2007); and Colleen Jones (2004). Nedohin, 36, last appeared in a world championship in 1998 as Heather Godberson when she played third for Cathy Borst. They won the bronze medal in Kamloops, B.C. She married David Nedohin, who won four Canadian championships and three world titles throwing fourth stones for Randy Ferbey, the following year. They live in Sherwood Park, Alta., and have two daughters. Nedohin and Iskiw have been teammates for five years. Mair joined them three years ago and Peters has curled with them for two. The Edmonton foursome has the advantage of virtually no travel compared to the other 11 countries at the world championship. Nedohin has also done some of her best curling in her home province. In addition to winning the Scotties Tournament of Hearts last month in Red Deer, she won a national junior championship in 1996 in Edmonton and the world junior title the same year in Red Deer. "When youre in Canada you get Canadian ice," Nedohin points out. "All teams around the world say Canada has the best ice, which to me means the best shotmaking and the best games. "We dont have to deal with jet lag or a time change. Our food is what were used to, our accommodation is what were used to and the fan support is going to be highly for us. Bonus." If this years national championship is any indication, Canada should be interesting to watch and not just because of Nedohins dramatic body language and facial expressions. They defeated Jennifer Jones 6-5 in an extra end in the semifinal at the Scotties. A measurement on stones was required to declare the winner. In a playoff game against Quebec, Peters used her broom and body to muscle a falling Mair away from Nedohins last shot of the game to keep the second from burning it. "We say controversy and adversity seem to follow us," Nedohin says. "If its entertainment value, youre getting bang for your buck." Nedohin also coined a new expletive that now has its own Twitter hashtag. After catching herself blurting out a scatalogical reference on national television during the Scotties, Nedohin opted to exclaim "sugarballs" when she was frustrated. "I walked away from it going I have kids, I shouldnt have said that. Ill say sugarballs," Nedohin explains. "When I said it, I didnt realize how that would take off too." "David said, Its gone viral. I said, I dont know what that means." The international curling landscape has changed drastically since the sport made its Olympic debut at the 1998 Winter Games in Nagano, Japan. Countries that werent even on the curling radar then are investing in the game. China is now a heavyweight in womens curling and Russia is coming on strong. Italy, South Korea and the Czech Republic are also pushing for prominence. Canadians may expect their curling teams to beat the rest of the world, but its becoming harder to do so. That will be the same scenario for skip Glenn Howard along with third Wayne Middaugh, second Brent Laing and Craig Savill, who will represent Canada at the world mens championship March 31 to April 8 in Basel, Switzerland. In Lethbridge, Canada will have their hands full with former world champion and Olympic bronze medallist Bingyu Wang of China, two-time Olympic silver medallist Mirjam Ott of Switzerland and European champion Eve Muirhead of Scotland. Muirhead was runner-up to Germanys Andrea Schoepp at the 2010 world championship in Swift Current, Sask. Schoepp would have been again favourite in Lethbridge, but the skip broke her leg and tore ligaments in her knee last Saturday in whats been described as a "training accident" by German media. Schoepp underwent surgery Tuesday. Thats caused a reshuffling of the German lineup with the skip yet to be named. Also, two-time Olympic and four-time world champion Anette Norberg isnt in the field. She was upset in the Swedish championships by Margaretha Sigfridsson. Allison Pottinger of the U.S. won a world championship in 2003 playing third for Debbie McCormick. Pottinger is skipping the American team for the first time. Russias Anna Sidorova is coming off a bronze medal at the world junior championship and was also third in the European championship in December. Czech Republics Linda Klimova, Denmarks Lene Nielsen, Italys Diana Gaspari and South Koreas Ji-Sun Kim complete the field. Despite her long absence from the world championships, Nedohin says she knows most of these teams because shes either played them or seen them play on the World Curling Tour. "The beauty of our tour is international teams are competing on it," she says. "We have been attending those events. Whether weve competed against them, had them playing beside us or watched their games, weve seen them." The top four teams at the conclusion of the round robin advance to the Page playoff. "If we look at the way the team has been playing over the last three months of playoffs and where weve planned to peak this season, I really like what I see in the team as a whole," Nedohin says. "Our goal is just to get to playoffs and from there we need to continue playing the way weve been playing." Tobias Enstrom Jersey . Manager John Gibbons wasnt taking the bait on Friday afternoon following his clubs 3-1 defeat at the hands of the Red Sox. "When we put the team together, well announce it at the end," said Gibbons. "Nice try, though." Pressed further, Gibbons was only slightly more willing to share what everyone believes hes thinking about his 23-year-old right-hander. Dustin Byfuglien Jersey . -- Look at London Fletchers career stats, particularly the column of numbers under the letter "G.Columbia, MO (SportsNetwork.com) - Andrew Harrison scored 15 points and No. 1 Kentucky stayed unbeaten with a relatively restrained 69-53 win over Missouri on Thursday. The Wildcats (20-0, 7-0 SEC) made only two 3-pointers, blocked just one shot and recorded a mere eight assists. Still, they trailed for just 59 seconds, in part because of their 27-13 free throw advantage, but largely from their seemingly impenetrable defense, which forced 15 turnovers. Aaron Harrison scored 11 points, Devin Booker added nine, and Dakari Johnson chipped in eight points and seven rebounds for the victors. Kentucky is off to its first 20-0 start under John Calipari and sent Missouri (7-13, 1-6) to its first six-game losing streak since the 2005-06 season. Wes Clark led the Tigers with 19 points, while Johnathan Williams III added 10 points in a losing cause. These teams met in Lexington two weeks ago, and Missouri was on the losing end of an embarrassing 86-37 final score. When Kentucky scored the first six points in the opening 90 seconds Thursday, there was palpable tension in the crowd hoping their Tigers could at least keep it respecctable. Evander Kane Jersey. That concern waned when Williams drained a 3-pointer, and visions of an upset ensued after Clark hit consecutive 3s to give Missouri a 13-12 lead. The Wildcats quieted things by scoring 12 of the final 16 points of the first half, but the Tigers were still within a manageable 34-25 at the break. After making 54.2 percent of their shots in the first half, the Wildcats were held without a field goal for nearly five minutes after the break. They did, however, attack the basket and force multiple fouls to quickly earn their way into the bonus. Missouri was within six before Andrew Harrison scored seven straight points -- five from the foul line -- to give Kentucky a 45-35 cushion. The closest it got from there was 11. Game Notes Kentucky has won all eight meetings vs. Missouri ... Kentucky junior Willie Cauley-Stein was held scoreless until making a layup with under three minutes to play ... The Wildcats bench outscored Missouris reserves 30-15 ... Kentucky hosts Alabama on Saturday ... Missouri ends its three-game homestand Saturday against Ole Miss. cheap jerseys from chinacheap jerseys ' ' '
