Now there’s just the waiting.
All teams have qualified and are preparing for the B.C. Junior Curling championships, which go Dec. 27 to Jan. 1, hosted by New Westminster’s Royal City Curling Club.
The final playdowns wrapped up last week, with competitions in Prince George, Courtenay, Creston and Vernon deciding the last spots for both junior boys and girls in the aged 20 and under circuit.
Team Tardi, which represents the Royal City/Langley curling clubs, captured the A event in the Coastal playdowns on Vancouver Island by beating Royal City’s Team Proctor 10-3 in seven ends in the A final. The defending B.C. junior men’s champions feature skip Tyler Tardi, third Sterling Middleton of Burnaby, second Jordan Tardi and lead Nicholas Meister.
The Tardi squad also were bronze medalists at the 2016 nationals.
Team Proctor, which also advanced, includes skip Tyler Proctor of Burnaby, New West’s Horace Mak at third, second Matthew Chan of Vancouver and lead Breyden Chong of Burnaby. The B qualifier was Team Habkirk from Victoria, who Tardi bested 9-6 in the semifinal. New West’s Team Sato captured the other spot.
The Sato rink, which is the youngest team to qualify and also eligible for the provincial under-18 championships, includes skip Hayato Sato of Coquitlam, third Dawson Ballard, second Troy Chong and lead Joshua Miki.
Clinching their positions earlier at the Optimist Junior Cashspiel in Esquimalt were Royal City curling’s Team Kiss and Team McCrady. The Kiss foursome accumulated 284 points on the junior men’s circuit to stake out a provincial berth, ahead of McCrady’s 202 points.
Team Kiss includes skip Jordan Kiss, Nicholas Umbach, Travis Cameron and Derek Chandler. Team McCrady, which took silver at last year’s junior championships, features skip Matthew McCrady, Zac Curtis, Jacob Umbach and Brayden Carpenter.
On the junior women’s side, defending B.C. champion Team Daniels secured its berth with a strong run on the junior tour, avoiding a Coastal playdown battle. The Royal City crew tabulated the most points on the B.C. Junior Women’s Curling Tour, capped by a win at the Optimist Junior Cashspiel three weeks ago.
The Daniels rink includes skip Sarah Daniels, third Sarah Loken, second Megan Daniels and lead Sydney Brilz.
