UNITY — Amber Holland and Bruce Korte are each a win away from repeating as Curl Sask senior provincial champions.
Holland and her Saskatoon Sutherland foursome will face Yorkton’s Joan McCusker for women’s gold on Sunday afternoon, while Korte and his Saskatoon Nutana rink booked their spot in the men’s final with a win over rinkmate Blaine Duncan in the Page Playoff 1-2 game.
Holland defeated McCusker in the first semifinal on Saturday, but the multiple-time former Scotties champ bounced back with a 12-1 win over Nutana’s Tracy Streifel in the second semifinal.
McCusker didn’t leave a lot to chance in that contest, scoring two in the first, getting the force the next end and then putting up back-to-back five enders to bring things to an early close.
Streifel had advanced to the semifinal earlier in the day, scoring four over the final three ends, including a steal of two in the eighth, to defeat Regina Highland’s Cathy Inglis 7-4.
The senior women’s championship final is set for 2 p.m. on Sunday.
The men’s event saw Duncan defeat Regina Callie’s Randy Bryden 5-4 in an extra end in the B final, booking their spot as the second seed in the Page Playoffs.
Bryden rebounded with a 7-3 win over Prince Albert’s Ron Brown in one C final, while Wadena’s Bert Franko scored single points in the final three ends to take a 4-3 win over Unity’s Robert Bakken in the other.
The Page 1-2 game saw Korte pick up three in the second end and then add steals the next two frames for a 5-0 lead. Duncan got one back in the fifth, but Korte picked up another single point in the sixth, and the teams would shake hands.
Franko staged a late-game comeback against Bryden in the Page 3-4 game, as a three spot in the sixth had given the reigning Canadian champions a 5-4 lead with two ends to play. Franko got his deuce in the seventh, though, and then stole in the eighth for a 7-5 win,
As a result, Duncan and Franko will play in the semifinal at 9:30 a.m. Sunday, with the winner advancing to face Korte for provincial gold at 2 p.m.
You can keep up with all the results on Sunday at www.curlsask.ca.
