Canadian men undefeated at World Seniors

Canada’s Randy Neufeld is on a roll at the 2016 World Senior Curling Championships in Karstad, Sweden with a decisive 8-2 victory during the second game of round robin play.

Canadian skip Randy Neufeld watches his rock as sweepers Peter Nicholls, left, and Dale Michie keep an eye on the weight during Saturday’s 8-2 victory over Slovakia. (Photo, World Curling Federation/Céline Stucki)

Neufeld’s La Salle, Manitoba-based team — third Dean Moxham, second Peter Nicholls, lead Dale Michie and national coach Bill Tschirhart — picked up the 8-2 win over Slovakia’s Ondrej Marcek on Saturday at the Karlstad Curling Arena.

The Canadian men scored a single in the first end to kick off the game. Slovakia blanked the second end before turning over a deuce in the third end to take a 2-1 lead. Canada answered back with three points and never looked back with a series of steals in ends five through seven to edge out the Marcek team.

“It’s good to get going especially with one game a day, so it’s nice to get out here and playing,” said Neufeld. “There’s room for improvement and we’re getting used to the ice and everything else. I’m hoping we’ll get better all the time.”

Canadian vice-skip Judy Pendergast. (Photo, WCF / Céline Stucki)

The Canadian women hit the ice for their first round robin game at 7 a.m. ET, against Sweden’s Gunilla Edund. Skip Terri Loblaw along with vice-skip Judy Pendergast, second Sandy Bell, lead Cheryl Hall, team coach Judy Erickson, national coach Tschirhart posted a 7-6 win in their battle with the hometown favourites.

With the hammer in the first end, Canada opened with two points. Sweden blanked the second end, then tied it up in the third with a deuce. Loblaw picked up a single in the fourth to take a 3-2 lead before Edund scored another deuce in end five. After the Canadians tied it up again in the sixth end with a single, the Swedes jumped ahead with a deuce in the seventh end. In an exciting finish, the Canadians picked up a big three points to seal the deal for the 7-6 win.

“We struggled a bit but it was our first game – it’s nice to come up with a win, for sure,” said Loblaw. “When you get that first win under your belt, it’s very important.”

The teams representing Canada at the 2016 World Senior Curling Champions won the 2015 Everest Canadian Seniors gold medal to qualify for the trip to Karlstad.

Live scoring from the 2016 World Seniors is available at https://www.worldcurling.org/wscc2016/livescores

The 2016 World Mixed Doubles Championship will begin on Saturday at Kobbs Arena in Karlstad.

Canada’s entry of Marliese Kasner and Dustin Kalthoff of Saskatoon (with national coach Jeff Stoughton and team leader Jim Waite) plays its first game Sunday at 2 a.m. ET against France’s Romain Borini and Sandrine Morand.

Selected games from the World Mixed Doubles Championship will be streamed live online. Go to the event website, https://www.worldcurling.org/wmdcc2016, to see the games and broadcast schedule.

Canada’s game against China’s Dexin Ba and Rui Wang, Wednesday at 3 p.m., will be streamed live.