Robertson, Hanlon heading for playoffs at World Seniors

Manitoba’s Kelly Robertson and New Brunswick’s Heidi Hanlon were undefeated in round-robin play after four days of competition at the World Seniors Curling Championships taking place  at the 7-sheet Taarnby Curling Club, in Kastrup, on the outskirts of Copenhagen. The event got underway on Sunday, April 14, with 14 women’s and 23 men’s teams competing for this year’s medals.

Team Canada skip Kelly Robertson and second Peter Prokopowich (Photo WCF/Richie Laurie)

This is the 11th edition of the formally-sanctioned WCF World Senior Curling Championships. Games are limited to eight ends, and in order to be eligible to play, players must not be less than 50 years of age by the end of the 30th day of June of the year immediately preceding the year in which the WSCC is to take place. Canada is attempting to defend both the men’s and women’s titles won last year by Mark Johnson and Christine Jurgenson in St. Paul, Minnesota. Manitoba’s Kelly Robertson, of the Neepawa Curling Club, and his team of third Doug Armour, second Peter Prokopowich and lead Bob Scales compete on the men’s side. On the women’s side, Team Canada is skipped by Heidi Hanlon with her St. John, New Brunswick, team of third Kathy Floyd, second Judy Blanchard and lead Jane Arsenault. After four days of round robin play, both Canadian teams sit undefeated at the top of the leaderboard in their respective pools. On Thursday, Robertson meets New Zealand’s Hans Frauenlob to determine first place in Group A. Hanlon meets Denmark and Scotland in the final two games of round robin Group A action. “We’re feeling confident and we’re happy to finish tomorrow with two games, two big games which we’re hoping to win,” Hanlon said after Wednesday’s win over Russia. “The ice is great, really good, consistent, so we’re happy with the way it is playing. We’re just trying to keep the pressure down a bit but we’re happy with where we are.”

Team Canada skip Heidi Hanlon (Photo WCF/Richie Laurie)

Team Canada Team Leader Bill Tschirhart reports from Taarnby: “Today the women play the host team (Denmark)and Scotland. If Canada is successful against Denmark, their game tonight against Scotland will be for first place in the pool, which means Team Canada would play the second-ranked team in the other pool (which right now is New Zealand, playing Japan today) in the semi-final.” Kelly also faces an important qualifying game on Thursday. “On the men’s side, their game tonight against New Zealand will also be for first place in the pool ensuring a lower ranked opponent in the quarter finals,” reports Tschirhart. “Rankings among the three first, second and third place teams for match-ups in the playoffs are based upon the DSC (draw shot challenge) that takes place after a team completes its pre-game warm up.” Playoffs begin Friday and conclude on Saturday with the semi-final and final games to determine the medals. News, scores and standings are posted on the World Seniors Curling Championship website.