The pre-qualifying portion of the Canadian Senior Curling Championship wrapped up today in Yellowknife, with the first two qualifiers decided this morning and the remaining two decided in the afternoon.

In the morning women’s game, Ontario’s Marilyn Bodogh and Prince Edward Island’s Jennifer Scott crossed swords with this prize on the line: the first of two spots in the championship round robin. But the battle was short-lived as the east coast Islanders kept the pressure on the squad from Upper Canada from the start. At the conclusion of the eighth end, with PEI leading 9-4, handshakes were in order.

PEI skip Jennifer Scott calls to her sweepers (Photo James MacKenzie)

The men’s game followed much the same format with the foursome from Sudbury, representing the Northern Ontario Curling Association and skipped by Robbie Gordon, scoring repeatedly in the initial early ends leading to a 7-1 victory over Nunavut’s Ed Sattelbrger.

The field for the 2014 Canadian Senior Curling Championships was completed with the playing of the final two pre-qualifying games at the Yellowknife Curling Centre this afternoon.

Northern Ontario third Ron Henderson delivers his rock during pre-qualifying action at the Yellowknife Curling Club (Photo James MacKenzie)

On the men’s side, Team Northern Ontario’s Robbie Gordon recovered from his first-draw loss to win two straight games, today versus Newfoundland & Labrador’s Lorne Henderson, to grab the second spot available in the pre-qualifier and join the twelve-team round robin. It was a convincing victory with a score of 4 in the sixth end. From that point, the Sudbury-based quartet was not to be denied and closed out the win, 9-3.

The women’s qualifier saw Team Ontario’s Marilyn Bodogh take on Team Nunavut’s Beverly Ford with the Ontarians coasting to victory.

The stage is set to begin round robin play on Saturday morning with eight games, three in the Yellowknife Curling Centre and the remainder next door in the Yellowknife Community Arena.

The winners of the 2014 Canadian Seniors will represent Canada at the 2015 World Senior Curling Championships, at a site and date to be announced by the World Curling Federation. Last year’s Canadian champions, skipped by Colleen Pinkney of Truro, N.S., and Wayne Tallon of Fredericton, N.B., are competing in this year’s World Seniors, April 23-30 at Dumfries, Scotland. Since the World Seniors began in 2002, Canada has won eight men’s and nine women’s titles.

Draw results for the 2014 Canadian Seniors will be instantly available at www.curling.ca.

For information about the event, including team rosters and event schedules, visit www.curling.ca/2014seniors-en.

(Story by Bill Tschirhart)