Defending champions through to the final

McEwen glides into the final

Mike McEwen has won his semi-final at the Mercure Perth Masters in a tighly fought battle against fellow coutryman and 2006 Olympic gold champion Brad Gushue.

McEwen has only lost one match this weekend and on Saturday he left nothing to chance by winning three games in succession and making short shrift of them - his rink played a total of just 13 ends.

The Canadians secured a comfortable win over Sweden's Edin in the quarter-finals before meeting the Gushue in the semis.

The game was a slow burner bursting with tactical play and precision shots. Both teams maintained composure to deliver quality shots waiting to pounce on any mistake the other might make.

As errors were few and far between the excitement of the match increased and the outcome uncertain.

Going in to the seventh end the teams had four shots apiece and the turning point seemed to come with a triple take-out from McEwen's side to give the upper-hand in the house and mentally.

McEwen had just his final stone to clinche the victory. He delicately curled the stone behind the guard with expert accuracy to take out his opponents stone lying shot and win by one point.

A thrill to watch and a joy for spectators.