Saskatchewan Teams Face Off to Open 2024 Canadian Wheelchair Curling Championship in Moose Jaw

The 2024 Canadian Wheelchair Curling Championship kicked off with the two teams representing host province Saskatchewan facing off on Sunday afternoon at the Moose Jaw Curling Centre.

Defending national champions Saskatchewan #1 started the game with hammer and scored three in the opening end, followed by a steal of four in the second end. They cruised on to defeat Saskatchewan #2 by a score of 11-1.

Team Saskatchewan #1 skip Gil Dash, vice-skip Marie Wright and second Moose Gibson also played together at the 2023 Canadian Wheelchair Curling Championship. Sheryl Pederson joined the team this season at lead and Lorraine Arguin is the team’s long-time coach.

“Our team was ready to go,” said Dash. “The ice is different than we’re used to, but we adjusted to it fast. Our front end made their shots in the first couple of ends and that’s the key to getting a good start.”

The event format is a 10-game round robin with three teams reaching the playoffs. After the game, Dash underscored the significance of a good start as his team looks to defend its title and he and Wright look to achieve a record-setting five national wins.

“It’s a long week. You have to come out and do well right off the hop. You have to go for the shots. You can’t do half shots. Today we were going for it because we want to go for gold.”

Earlier in the month, Dash represented Canada at the 2024 World Wheelchair Curling Championship in Gangneung, South Korea, where his team won a silver medal. This week, he traded out his Team Canada jacket to represent his province as the hometown favourites.

“It feels good to be wearing green,” said Dash with a smile. “It always feels good to be wearing green. Green, red – it’s your home. It’s your province, it’s your country. It feels good and we want to represent it well.”

He is very familiar with his opponents on Team Saskatchewan #2, because they have trained and competed together before this championship. Saskatchewan #2 is skipped by veteran curler Rodney Pederson. He has taken a team of new curlers under his wing in vice-skip Pete Andrews, second Mike Kennedy, lead Zahra Ehsani, and alternate Tara Hess. They are coached by Lloyd Thiele. 

Pederson’s team was formed as a result of two recruitment events held in November. Pederson lives in Moose Jaw, Andrews and Kennedy are from Saskatoon, and Ehsani and Hess live in Regina. They mostly practise separately but they have traveled to train together throughout the season, including playing five games together.

“We’ll plug away and keep trying,” said Pederson. “We got that bad one out of our system and that’s it. It’s all a learning experience.”

In the other games on the ice, Alberta #1’s Team Martin Purvis defeated New Brunswick’s Team Mike Fitzgerald 11-6; Alberta #2’s Team Donald Kuchelyma dropped its opening game to Quebec’s Team Carl Marquis by a score of 15-2; British Columbia’s Team Gerry Austgarden won 7-3 over Ontario #2’s Team Chris Rees; and Newfoundland & Labrador’s Team Cecilia Carroll beat Ontario #1’s Team Doug Morris by a score of 12-4. Manitoba’s Team Dennis Thiessen had a first-round bye and will play its opening game Monday, March 25 at 1:30 pm CT.

With 10 of 11 teams hitting the ice for the first draw, anticipation is high for the week ahead. The championship format includes a full 10-game round-robin, with two draws each day from Monday to Friday, March 29th. Only the top three teams will make it to the playoffs which will be played on Saturday, March 30.

Day- and full-event passes are available for the 2024 Canadian Wheelchair Curling Championship and can be purchased by CLICKING HERE.

Select games are available to watch on Curling Canada’s streaming platform Curling Canada+ (https://plus.curling.ca/). 

For scores, team lineups, schedule information and latest news from the championship, visit the event website, www.curling.ca/2024wheelchair.