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Kevin Martin will get a chance to redeem himself on a couple of fronts prior to returning home from the world men’s curling championship.

The Canadian skip built a 4-1 lead through three ends and hung on for a 5-4 semifinal win over Norwegian counterpart Thomas Ulsrud in Grand Forks, N.D., on Saturday afternoon.

Canada’s skip Kevin Martin follows the path of the curling stone he delivered against Norway in Saturday’s semifinal.
(Nati Harnik/Associated Press)

Canada will meet Scotland in Sunday’s final (CBC, CBCSports.ca, 2:30 p.m. ET) just two days after Scottish skip David Murdoch stole one in the 10th end to score a come-from-behind 7-6 win over Martin.

This will mark Martin’s first appearance in the world final since 1991 when he fell to Scotland, skipped by David Smith. He also finished fourth at the 1997 worlds.

“Hopefully we can finish one off,” Martin told CBC Sports. “For me, I don’t look in the rear-view mirror very often.”

Winning a world title may help change Martin’s image as great money player who fails when he wears the Maple Leaf on his back.

Martin’s Alberta rink of third John Morris, second Marc Kennedy and lead Ben Hebert can give Canada the curling double. Jennifer Jones of Winnipeg won the women’s worlds last month in Vernon, B.C.

Norway met Fengchun Wang’s rink from China in the bronze-medal game on Saturday night.

In Friday night’s 1-2 Page playoff, Martin curled his worst match of the week against Scotland. He had a chance to win the match on his last shot but his draw was heavy, allowing Murdoch to steal the win and advance directly to the final.

“That’s what it’s all about here for us,” Martin said in reference to Saturday’s bounce-back performance against the Norwegians. “We’re trying to get some experience with this new team get ready for 2010 [Vancouver Olympics].

“The boys responded well. Benny [lead Ben Hebert] played just about 100 [per cent], Marc [Kennedy] probably did shoot 100 other than the one pick.

“We’ve played pretty well all week and just stumbled on one shot [Friday]. We outplayed [Scotland] for two hours and 45 minutes.”

Martin had his game back against Ulsrud, curling 94 per cent.

He started with a triple takeout to score two points in the first end. In the third, he took advantage of a Norway miss to draw for another deuce.

“In the third end [I was] a bit heavy on touching the guard. From there on, we were struggling,” said Ulsrud, who downed China 7-5 in Friday’s other playoff game.

“I think they [Canada] showed today why they’re the No. 1 team in the world. If you get down to them you gotta be really lucky to get back.”

Murdoch won the 2006 world championship and lost the 2005 final to Edmonton’s Randy Ferbey.

He anticipates another close match against Canada after falling to Martin 6-5 during the round robin.

“The round-robin game was very close,” he said. “We were all over them the first five, six ends and then let [the lead] slip. And then it was the role reversal in the 1-2 [playoff]. We’re delighted to face Canada again.”

Scotland lead Euan Byers, a member of the 2006 world championship squad, said the key to Sunday’s matchup is understanding what has worked in the past.

“It’s one of the biggest games of your life, so it’s not a problem getting up for it,” he said. “[It’s about] staying calm, focused, visualizing your shots and not worrying about the outcome because that will take of itself.”

CBC Sports analyst Mike Harris believes Martin will be the aggressor on Sunday like he was in the two previous games against Murdoch this week.

“They need to play very, very well,” he said of the Canadians. “They do not have the hammer early in the game which could be a factor. Momentum is going to be a huge factor.”

Added fellow analyst Joan McCusker: “I think Kevin Martin through his entire career is more comfortable at a defensive style of play than he is being forced to make the big draw.

“If he can get a bit of a lead and Kevin can feel comfortable throwing those big-weight hits and playing defensive, that will be the key to [Canada’s] success.”

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