Friday, 1 May 2009 – The final playoff scenarios were confirmed Friday morning on the last round of pool play at the World Senior Curling Championships in Dunedin. No tie-breakers were required to find the medal contenders.

In Men’s Pool B, Switzerland defeated Sweden 4-3 to earn second place in the group and advance to the playoff round. Switzerland will play Canada in the Saturday morning semi-final while Paul Pustovar’s USA team scored a 7-2 win over Italy to stay undefeated.

The top-ranked American team will play Scotland in the Saturday semi-final.

In the Women’s competition which wrapped up Friday evening, first place Canada will play Sweden in one semi-final while Switzerland plays Scotland in the other.

Article courtesy of thecurler.com

Thursday, 30 April 2009 – Playoff teams are set in the Women's Division of the World Senior Curling Championship in Dunedin, New Zealand as well as in one of the Men's groups. In the second Men's group, the final round of play Friday morning will determine the playoff teams although Paul Pustovar's Team USA from Minnesota has already assured itself of a playoff berth.

In the Senior Women's competition, Canada's Pat Sanders finished the round robin undefeated with a 7-0 record by beating Sweden 7-4 Thursday evening. Switzerland grabbed second place with a 12-1 win over Team USA (Sharon Vukich-Seattle) and a 5-2 record. Sweden and Scotland, who beat New Zealand 6-4, finish in 3rd and 4th position with 4-3 records.  Playoffs begin Saturday morning.

In one Men's Division, Eugene Hritzuk's Team Canada finished unbeaten with a 5-0 record, a game ahead of former champion Keith Prentice of Scotland. The two teams advance to Saturday's playoff round.

Pustovar's US team has a 4-0 record with one game to play Friday. Switzerland and Sweden are at 3-1 and play each other Friday morning. The winner of that game will advance to the playoff round along with the Americans.

Article courtesy of thecurler.com

Friday, 7 Jan 2011 – 

Canada`s Pat Sanders team and Scotland both won a pair of games Wednesday in the World Senior Women’s Championship in Dunedin, NZ. Canada`s wins, a 7-5 win over Team USA and a 12-5 whipping of the host Kiwis, improves their undefeated record to 5-0.

For Scotland the pair of wins, 8-5 over Italy and 10-5 over Sweden, means the Scots and Sweden are at both 3-2 and tied for second place with Switzerland, who defeated winless Italy 12-6.

In the Senior Men’s competition, the teams played only one game Wednesday. Canada’s Eugene Hritzuk team and Paul Pustovar of the United Stated stayed perfect to lead the two groups. Canada was a 10-2 winner over winless England while Team USA beat Switzerland 6-5.

Pustovar and his USA foursome are at 3-0 with two games yet to play. Canada is 4-0 and plays their final round-robin game Thursday against Japan. Japan and Scotland are currently in second place at 3-1 in the group. A Japanese win over Canada would be an upset but it would likely create a 3-way tie as Scotland plays Hungary in their final game.

Article courtesy of thecurler.com

The host teams went winless on the second day of the 2009 World Senior Curling Championships at Dunedin on Tuesday 28 April. The New Zealand Mens and Womens teams were both outplayed in their only games of the day.

First up in the morning round were Peter Becker's Mens team. They took 2 with hammer on the first end but then went scoreless until the seventh, going down 7-4 to the Swiss foursome.

In the afternoon session, the NZ Women got off to a horror start against the Swiss women, dropping 5 shots on the first end. It didn't get much better, and the teams shook hands at 14-2 when Switzerland scored another handful on the seventh.

At the end of the second day the Canadians are leading the eight-team Women's competition with a perfect 3-0 record. Sweden, Switzerland and the USA have 2 wins while Japan, NZ and Scotland have a win apiece. Italy are still to record a win.

The Canadian Men also have a perfect 3-0 record and lead the six-team Blue pool. USA and Switzerland lead the charge in the Red group.

The 2009 World Senior Curling Championships got underway Monday morning at Dunedin Ice Stadium with a traditional opening ceremony, including an entry of the 20 competing teams (12 men, 8 women) from 14 nations led by pipers from the City of Dunedin Pipe Band.

World Curling Federation President Les Harrison, from Canada, commended the committee and the city on its successful efforts to host the first-ever world curling championship in the Southern Hemisphere.

After the completion of two draws, all teams had played their opening games of the event.

On the afternoon draw, the New Zealand Men`s team, skipped by Peter Becker, allowed Italy a score of four points on the opening end but fought back for a popular 8-5 victory to open the event. On the earlier draw, the New Zealand Women`s team, skipped by Wendy Becker, lost their opener 8-4 to Team USA.

The Canadian Men`s team scored a close 6-5 win over Scotland in the feature game of the opening day.

“We had terrible execution on the first end and they made everything,” said Canadian skip Eugene Hirtzuk, explaining a three-point end scored by former champion Keith Prentice and his Scottish team on the opening end.

Canada came back to score a single on the second end and steal three more on the third end. Scotland scored one to even the score at the mid-game break.

“We played a more aggressive game and it seemed to be to our advantage,” Hritzuk said. “It was a learning experience for both teams. The ice is great but you have to get adjusted to the rocks and the ice.”

Tied 5-5 coming home, Hritzuk won the game with a last rock draw to the four-foot circle, facing a pair of Scottish rocks.

The Canada-Scotland match-up on the opening day was considered by many to be a preview of a potential playoff game. Hritzuk said he was pleased to play a tough opponent first.

“It is good to get out of the gate in a game where you need focus and intensity,” the Canadian skip said. “It is not good to start with what might be an easier game – you don’t want any opportunity to relax at the start of the event.”

In other first round men’s games, Japan opened with a four and cruised to a 10-2 win over England and Team USA scored four unanswered points after the break in a 7-2 win over Sweden.

In three much closer matches, Hungary led Australia 5-3 after five ends but gave up four on the sixth end in losing 8-6 to Australia; Switzerland scored two on the final end for a 6-5 win over Finland; and New Zealand stole a single point on the seventh end to lead Italy 7-5 coming home and left the Italian skip a near impossible last shot which failed, allowing New Zealand another point and an 8-5 win.

In the first round of Women’s competition, Japan trailed Scotland 5-2 at mid-game but tied the score coming home and scored two on that final end to win 8-6. Canada defeated Switzerland 8-2, Team USA beat New Zealand 8-4, and Sweden blasted Italy 15-0.

Article courtesy of thecurler.com

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