Photo: The Canadian Press
GANGNEUNG, Korea, Republic of — Canada will play for gold in both the women’s and men’s finals at the Senior Men’s Curling World Championships.
Sherry Anderson’s Saskatoon Rink defeated Switzerland’s Monika Gafner 7-3 in the women’s semifinals on Friday. Howard Rajala’s foursome from Ottawa. defeated Joel Larway of the United States 8-2 in the men’s to reach the gold medal game.
Anderson is aiming for a third record world championship title in the seniors together with runner-up Patty Hersikorn, second Brenda Goertzen and leader Anita Silvernagle.
They meet Jackie Lockhart from Scotland last Saturday morning in South Korea.
“It feels good,” Anderson said. “That was our goal, getting into this game (Saturday) and hopefully we’ll come out and I’ll play a little bit stronger.
“We’re going to have our ‘A’ game, and I’m going to have my ‘A’ game especially.”
Despite having previously won the title in 2018 and 2019, Anderson does not take the opportunity to play in the finals for granted after missing out on the podium last year.
“You’re getting a little older and you’re just wondering if you’re going to come back here,” she said. “We’ve been very, very lucky to come here four times and we don’t take that lightly. So we want to do our best and come out and show what we can do.”
Team Rajala, complete with runner-up Rich Moffatt, second-in-command Chris Fulton, leader Paul Madden and second-in-command Phil Daniel, will play for gold against the Scottish rink of former world champion Graeme Connal.
“You can see the big smile on my face,” Rajala said. “It’s great. I mean, it’s been a dream season and I’m just so happy for the lads. It’s wonderful. We still have work to do; Scotland will be tough. But it’s going to be a great experience.”
It is the 17th time that Canada has reached both the women’s and men’s finals since the start of the Senior World Championships in 2002. Canada has won both gold medals nine times.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on April 28, 2023.
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