Kevin Martin had to rally late to earn his spot in Saturday's semifinal at the Canada Cup in Kamloops, B.C. Once he got there, things were decidedly more comfortable.

Martin punched his ticket to Sunday's final by knocking off defending Olympic champion Brad Gushue of St. John's, N.L., with a dominating 8-2 victory.

Edmonton's Kevin Martin, pictured in a file photo, advanced to the final of the Canada Cup with his semifinal win over Brad Gushue on Saturday night.
(Ken Gigliotti/Canadian Press)

Martin will face fellow Edmontonian Kevin Koe, who also defeated Gushue on Saturday, winning the 1-vs.-2 Page playoff game, 7-5.

The lopsided victory was welcomed by Martin, who was competing for the third time on Saturday.

After finishing in a four-way tie for second place in his pool, Martin scored a 10-2 victory over Pat Simmons in a tiebreaker on Saturday morning simply for the opportunity to reach the Page playoff.

Martin then moved on to the semifinal, scoring a come-from-behind 7-6 upset win over Glenn Howard of Coldwater, Ont., the defending Canadian and world champion.

On the women's side, 2007 Canadian champion Kelly Scott advanced to the final after defeating Calgary's Cheryl Bernard, 10-6.

Scott, from Kelowna, B.C., reached the semifinal by knocking off 2008 Canadian champion Jennifer Jones.

Stefanie Lawton will be Scott's opponent for the women's championship. Lawton earned a 7-6 victory over Bernard in Saturday afternoon's Page playoff of 1-vs.-2.

A cash prize of $25,000 for each winning team is on the line in both the men's and women's final as well as berths in the 2009 Olympic trials.

CBC Sports will televise the championship finals (Sunday, 12 p.m. ET). As well, live streaming of the finals will be available at CBCSports.ca.

With files from the Canadian Press