FREDERICTON — Canada’s Cathy King stretched her unbeaten streak to four games at the world senior curling championships with a 19-1 rout over New Zealand’s Liz Matthews on Tuesday.
King’s St. Albert, Alta., rink (4-0), including third Carolyn Morris, second Lesley McEwan, lead Doreen Gares, is alone atop Group A.
Austria’s Veronika Huber and Winnipeg-born Margie Smith of the United States have 2-1 records.
Canada opened up an early lead on the Kiwis by scoring three in the first end, stealing five in the second and three more in the third. The handshakes came after six ends when Canada stole six more.
After outscoring opponents 59-7 over their first four games, the Canadians say that while they’re ready for a stiffer test, they won’t change their approach on the ice.
"We’re ready for a tough game, yes," said McEwan. "But, you know, we just try to treat it like it’s a close game. We don’t even look at the scoreboard. Our coach has us playing like it’s a golf course — you just worry about your ice, your rocks.
"Our big thing was that we were going to take it one rock at a time, regardless of the score. Not that we think less of them, but we’ve been watching some games and the scouting has helped us."
King, Morris and Jurgenson all have international experience, while McEwan and Gares are rookies at world-level play. But McEwan said she’s not surprised the team has looked so comfortable three days into the world seniors.
"We’ve worked hard at the whole team dynamics thing and expectations, and I’ve done a lot of coaching over the years, and that has helped me, too," she said. "But I’m not surprised at all; we’ve worked hard for this for 13 months."
The Canadian women are off on Wednesday and return to action Thursday against Austria.
On the men’s side, Canada, skipped by Rob Armitage, leads Group B at 5-0 following a 6-4 win over Russia’s Sergey Korolenko (0-5). Armitage’s rink from Red Deer, Alta., includes third Keith Glover, second Randy Ponich, and lead Wilf Edgar.
Sweden’s Hans Oberg leads Group B at 6-0, after a 7-2 victory over Australia. The Aussies and Denmark are next at 4-2. Denmark lost 6-5 to the United States. Rounding out the 12th draw, England defeated Germany 8-6, and Finland hammered the Netherlands 12-1.
The world senior event is being held in conjunction with the world mixed doubles championship.
The Canadian duo of Robert Desjardins and Isabelle Neron (2-3) of Saguenay, Que., lost 8-4 to Hungary’s Zsolt Kiss and Dorottya Palancsa (3-1).