Another win for O’Leary at World Seniors

Alan O’Leary and his team of third Andrew Dauphinee, second Danny Christianson, lead Harold McCarthy and coach Bill Tschirhart defeated Japan 6-4 to hold on to first place in their grouping at the World Senior Curling Championships being held in Sochi, Russia. The Halifax foursome now sit at the top of Group A with a 4-0 record, just ahead of Ireland’s Bill Gray and Scotland’s Gordon Muirhead. Denmark (Group B) and the USA (Group C) are the only other undefeated teams. The Japanese, skipped by Masayasu Sato, put the Canadians to the test in a close game which saw both teams score with hammer. Tied 3-3 after four ends, O’Leary took a deuce in five and held Sato to a single in six. With the hammer back, the Canadians blanked seven and scored their single in eight for the 6-4 win. On Tuesday, the Canadian men have one game, against Ireland’s Bill Gray (9 a.m. ET). Lois Fowler and her team from Brandon, Man., which includes third Maureen Bonar, second Cathy Gauthier and lead Allyson Stewart, with coaches Brian Fowler and Bill Tschirhart, had a day off on Monday but return to action on Tuesday, facing England’s Judith Dixon (1 a.m. ET). The round-robin draws for the World Seniors will run through to April 23 before the playoffs get underway. There are 24 senior men’s teams, split into three eight-team pools (one nine-team pool, two eight-team pools) and 13 senior women’s teams, split into two pools (one seven-team pool, one six-team pool). On April 24, the senior men’s and women’s gold-medal and bronze-medal games are scheduled for 6 a.m. Eastern. For live scores and standings from the World Seniors Championship, go to: wscc2015.curlingevents.com/.