Canadian women roll to easy win at World Seniors

Cathy King and Team Canada had an easy time of it on Sunday afternoon at the 2013 World Senior Curling Championships in Fredericton, N.B. King’s team from St. Albert, Alta., improved to 2-0 in the senior women’s competition with a lopsided 21-1 victory over an inexperienced Russian team skipped by Liudmila Murova (0-2) on Day 2 of the round-robin competition, which is being held in conjunction with the 2013 World Mixed Doubles Championship at the Grant-Harvey Centre. The Canadian team, which is rounded out by third Carolyn Morris, second Lesley McEwen, lead Doreen Gares, alternate Christine Jurgenson and coach Bill Tschirhart, opened the game by scoring four in the first and added steals of five in the next two ends. At that point, Gare came out of the game, allowing Jurgenson, who skipped Canada to victory at the 2011 World Seniors Championships in St. Paul, Minn., to play the final three ends. “It was a little bizarre; just something we’re not used to in Canada, right?” said King, whose team is tied for first place in its round-robin pool with Austria’s Veronika Huber. “Unfortunately they don’t have a lot of strategy and that’s what happens. We’re just trying to make our shots and unfortunately they had a tough time making theirs.” Team Canada returns to action on Monday at 8:30 a.m. (all times Atlantic) against Japan’s Mikiko Tsuchiya (1-1). “We were a little better this game, so that makes us happy,” said King. “We got a better feel for the weight, which was definitely different than the first game, so that helps. I’m hoping that every game that we can start feeling a little better as it gets closer to the playoffs.” In senior men’s play, Rob Armitage’s Red Deer, Alta., squad maintained its perfect pace with a 7-3 triumph over England’s Michael Sutherland (1-2). The Canadian team — featuring third Keith Glover, second Randy Ponich, lead Wilf Edgar, alternate Lyle Treiber and coached by Tschirhart — was able to score three-enders in the second and sixth ends on open draws by Armitage. “So far, so good,” said Glover. “We just hope to to get onto the ice, keep making some shots and get rolling through the rest of the week.” The Canadian men are back in action on Monday at 7 p.m. against Australia’s Hugh Millikin, who won the 1986 Canadian mixed championship in Kamloops, B.C., representing Ontario. Canada, the Aussies and Sweden’s Karl Nordlund are all unbeaten in their round-robin pool with 3-0 records. “I’m sure we’re going to have some tight games, no doubt,” said Glover. “It’s pretty easy to curl when you’re six or seven up. But Rob is curling well — everyone is curling well right now. We just have to keep it going.” In mixed doubles play, meanwhile, Team Canada’s Robert Desjardins and Isabelle Néron of Saguenay, Que., suffered their first loss, dropping a 12-5 decision to defending world champions Martin Rios and Nadine Lehmann of Switzerland (2-0). After opening the game with two in the first end and forcing the Swiss to one in the second, the wheels fell off in the third when Desjardins missed on a double-takeout attempt that led to a stolen three by Switzerland when Néron was heavy on her last-rock draw. Switzerland stole three more in the fourth and four in the fifth to put the game out of reach as Canada tried to take chances to mount a comeback. “The third end, I have a double that I can make nine times out of 10,” said Desjardins. “If I flashed, it wouldn’t have been as bad. But I ticked, didn’t move them out and took out our own and ended up giving them a big end out of nowhere. But that’s curling. You have to make those shots.” The 1-1 Canadians are back on the ice later Sunday against Spain’s Sergio Vez and Irantzu Garcia (1-1). “We learned some things about the ice so we’ll be better tonight (against Spain),” said Néron. “I need to find my draw weight, and be confident. On Monday, Team Canada plays Romania’s Valentin Anghelinei and Ana-Maria Saracu at 4 p.m. For live scores and standings from the World Mixed Doubles Championship, go to: www.wmdcc2013.curlingevents.com/. For live scores and standings from the World Seniors Championship, go to: wscc2013.curlingevents.com/.