Ottawa, ON (CCA) The World Financial Group Canadian Senior Men’s and Women’s Curling Championships get underway Saturday at the Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club.

Twelve men’s and 12 women’s teams will compete in the national championships, slated for March 20-28. At the conclusion of the round robin on Friday night, the first place teams advance directly to Sunday’s finals at 2:30 pm Atlantic, while the second and third place teams meet in semi-finals on Saturday.

The winners of the 2010 Canadian Seniors will then represent Canada at the 2011 World Seniors, April 15-24 in Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA.

This year’s fields are two of the best in Canadian Seniors history. The men’s roster includes Northern Ontario’s Al Hackner, a two-time (1982, 1985) Brier and world champion, in addition to also being a Canadian Seniors champion in 2006.

Other skips include Brier veterans Peter MacDonald of Prince Edward Island, Brian Rafuse of Nova Scotia, Quebec’s Pierre Charette and Saskatchewan’s Brad Heidt.

The women’s line-up boasts Alberta’s Diane Foster of Calgary, the 2008 World Seniors champion, British Columbia’s 2008 Canadian and 2009 World Seniors championship team, this time skipped by Christine Jurgenson, while former skip Pat Sanders is now at second. Both Jurgenson and Sanders are also former Canadian and World champions.

The field also includes veteran Scotties Tournament of Hearts skips Heidi Hanlon of New Brunswick, Laura Phillips of Newfoundland/Labrador and Quebec’s Agnes Charètte, also a three-time (1997, 1999, 2000) Canadian Seniors champion. PEI is represented by Shirley Berry, making her fourth trip to the Senior nationals.

The Canadian Seniors were last held in Ontario in 2002 in St. Thomas.
Ottawa has twice previously hosted the Seniors. It staged the inaugural Canadian senior women’s championship in 1973 and the men’s event in 1976, when the championships were conducted separately, prior to being combined, starting in 1985 in Yorkton, Saskatchewan.

Manitoba and Ontario have each won 10 Canadian senior men’s titles since the championship began in 1965 in Port Arthur, while Ontario has also won a leading 10 women¹s crowns since 1973.

Ontario (Bruce Delaney of Ottawa) and Nova Scotia (Colleen Pinkney of Truro) won the 2009 Canadian Seniors in Summerside, Prince Edward Island and will represent Canada at the 2010 World Seniors, April 16-24 in Chelyabinsk, Russia.

The 2008 Canadian Senior champions, Eugene Hritzuk of Saskatchewan and Pat Sanders of British Columbia, won gold medals at the 2009 World Seniors in New Zealand, while the 2007 Canadian Senior champions, Alberta’s Pat Ryan and Diane Foster, also won gold medals at the 2008 World Seniors in Vierumäki, Finland.