Morning Star Staff
Tyler Tardi is halfway to a potential rare curling double.
Tardi and his Langley/Royal City (New Westminster) clubmates won the Tim Hortons B.C. Junior Men’s Curling Championship at the Kamloops Curling Club Sunday with an 8-3 win over Matthew McCrady of Royal City.
Tardi, third Daniel Wenzek, second Jordan Tardi and lead Nicholas Meister will have a chance to win the Canadian Direct Insurance B.C. Men’s Curling Championship as they are one of 13 rinks qualified for the field of 16 next month in Nelson (Vernon’s Jim Cotter, the two-time defending champion, is also part of the field as is Mark Longworth of Vernon).
Leading 4-2 in Sunday’s final, Tardi took control with a steal of three in the seventh end.
Tardi was the class of the eight-team field, going undefeated (7-0) in the round-robin, then winning the one-versus-two page playoff game, 8-5, over Paul Henderson of Victoria to advance to the championship game.
McCrady had eliminated Vernon’s Thomas Love, 10-6, in a quarterfinal Saturday, then knocked off Henderson to advance to the final.
Love, backed by third Erik Colwell, second Brendan Chapple, lead Johnathan Schwartz, and coached by Dean Chapple, finished the round-robin in a three-way tie for the final playoff spot at 3-4.
Love defeated Brayden Carpenter of Royal City 7-0 and scored one in the 10th to edge Jordan Kiss of Royal City 8-7 in the tiebreakers to advance to the quarterfinal.
The third time was the charm for Royal City’s Sarah Daniels in the women’s final in Kamloops.
Daniels and her rink of third Marika Van Osch, second Dezaray Hawes and lead Megan Daniels, whipped hometown favourite, defending champion and previously unbeaten Corryn Brown of Kamloops 11-3 in the final.
Daniels went 6-1 in the round-robin, her only loss coming to Brown (7-0) by a score of 8-3 in draw 7. Brown then scored an 11-7 win over Daniels in the one-versus-two page playoff, salting away the win with a five-ender in the final end.
Daniels took control of Sunday’s final by scoring five in the fourth end for a 5-1 lead, and added three more in the ninth.
Vernon’s Winter Harvey went 1-6, her only win coming in draw 7, a 13-11 decision over Alyssa Connell of Prince George, who forced an extra end with a steal of two in the 10th.
Playing with Harvey were third Jaelyn Cotter, second Megan McGillivray, lead Cassidy Schwaerzle and fifth player Katelyn McGillivray. The team is coached by Jim Cotter.
Tardi and Daniels will now represent B.C. at the Canadian Junior Curling Championships in Stratford, Ont.
Cotter, meanwhile, is preparing for the Ed Werenich Golden Wrench Classic, Jan. 22-24, in Tempe, Ariz. Prize money for the World Curling Tour is $7,000 for first, $3,500 for second $1,500 for third and fourth and $875 for fifth through eighth.