Golden moment

Joyce Potter says she didn’t want to settle for silver again.

The Ottawa skip rolled out to a 5-0 lead on Sunday and cruised to an 8-3 win over Linda Wagner’s defending champion Calgary foursome, capturing the Canadian Masters Women’s Curling Championship at Port Arthur Curling Club.

Potter did it the hard way, stealing a pair in the first and three more in the second.

“We were really looking for gold today and we’re thrilled to have it,” said Potter, who knocked off Saskatchewan in Saturday’s semifinal to earn the championship-game berth.

“Last year we played Saskatchewan in the final. Actually we were up after four ends and we kind of let that game slip away. So this time we were up after four and we said we just have to hang on here and keep plugging. My team just played super and made some wonderful shots.”

Wagner fought back valiantly, stealing one in four to cut the lead to 5-2, but Potter and company scored one with the hammer to restore the four-shot lead and two more in the seventh to put the game all but out of reach.

“Sometimes it’s hard to keep that lead, especially when you’re playing in the free-guard zone. We don’t have those young legs that can make double and triple peels that easily. It’s often hard to just keep a lead going like that for four more ends,” Potter said.
“We were happy to be in control.”

Thunder Bay’s Marion Clark was not so fortunate in the bronze-medal match, a four-ender in the fourth dashing any dreams of repeating third place at the event, which is seeking Canadian Curling Association sanctions in June.

Clark, Bev Junnila, Tannis Ferguson and Barbara Ward fell 7-4 to Merle Kopach’s Saskatchewan rink, struggling with their shots most of the match.

It’s always disappointing when there are three spots paying and one finishes fourth, Clark said.

“But we gave it a good run, and as a new friend of mine said, at the end of the day, we were out there. There were 12 teams and four of them made it. So we’re pretty proud to have been there and to have been part of this whole wonderful championship. But terribly disappointed,” said Clark, whose expectations were gold in her third appearance at the Canadian Masters.

On the men’s side, Calgary’s Harold Breckenbridge finally brought home a national title, after a trip to the Brier and two shots at the Canadian Senior Curling Championship.

The Alberta skip scored a pair in seven to break open a one-point game and prevented an all-Ontario sweep with a 7-4 win over Ontario’s Bob Turcotte.

Manitoba’s Ralph Wilson stole a pair in the eighth to knock off Nova Scotia’s Alan Darragh 9-7 in the bronze-medal game.