All 10 teams have now been identified for the BC Men’s Canadian Direct Insurance Curling Championship. Joining last years champion rink of Bob Ursel and Greg McAulay (CRTS BC Champions) will be Interior Qualifiers; Dennis Graber, Tyrel Griffith, Jeff Richard and Rick Folk. The Coast Qualifiers were; Jay Peachey, Bryan Miki, Sean Geall and Jason Montgomery.

The field includes a number of former Brier and world champions. Including: Rick Folk (1980 & 1994), Greg McAulay (2000), Brent Pierce (2000), Bryan Miki (2000) and Gary Van Den Berghe (1996).

Tickets are on sale now and are available through the Golden Ears Winter Club by calling 604-463-4813 or visiting the website www.gewc.ca. Ticket Prices: Week Event Pass $50; Weekend Pass $35; Day Passes $10; and Single Game Tickets $7. Single Game and Day Passes are only available at the door.

Competition begins February 9th and concludes on Sunday, February 15th. Round Robin games run at 12 pm and 7 pm Monday thru Thursday with the final Round Robin game on Friday morning. Page Playoffs games commence Friday at 7 pm and carry through to the final on Sunday at 4 pm.

The Golden Ears Winter Club is located at 23580 105th Avenue, Maple Ridge (next to Planet Ice). Parking is available with overflow parking just north of the Lougheed Hwy.

All game scores will be covered on Playdowns.com along with a new feature this year: Live on-site chat. We will be covering a feature game on each draw along with updates of the other games with live coverage via our chat room.

Marla Mallet and her team of Grace MacInnes, Diane Gushulak, and Jacalyn Brown from Vancouver captured the 2009 Women’s Provincials after qualifying for the playoff through a tie-breaker. Mallet defeated previously unbeaten Allison MacInnes 8-5 in the final on the strength of a steal of four in the sixth end and managed to hang on for the victory. It’s the former Canadian and World Junior Champion’s third women’s B.C. title.

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Kathy Smiley and Jane Adam win trips to Senior Women’s provincials after qualifying at Senior Women’s Coastal Championships in Port Alberni. Smiley beat Lorraine Jefferies 8-5 in the “A” final. Adam defeated Jefferies 7-3 in “B” final.

Jamie McTavish and his foursome from Royal City win four straight while Stu Harris qualifies through the “B” beating Rick Pughe 8-6 in the “B” final at Senior Men’s Coastal Championships in Cowichan Valley. Both move on to Senior Provincials. Rick Pughe loses both the “A” and “B” finals.

A one game playoff between Sean Matheson and Tyrell Griffith will decide the final berth in this year’s Men’s Interior Championship in Sparwood. The Vernon Curling Club will be hosting the game at 10:30 am on Sunday, Jan. 18. The region 3 & 4 playoff game will be covered on Playdowns.com.

The final qualifiers for the 2009 Men’s Interior and Coastal Championships are now determined through regional events taking place January 9 to 12.

A decision will be made by Curl BC regarding the last spot in the Interior field as to whether Region 3 “C” qualifier Tyrell Griffith or Region 4 “C” qualifier Sean Matheson will receive that berth.

• Interior
  • Region 1 & 2: Josh Firman, Rob Ferguson, Brian LeMoel, Darrin Albo, Doug Ruse
  • Region 3: Rick Folk, Bert Gretzinger
  • Region 4: Lloyd Keates, Jeff Richard
  • Region 5 & 6: Michael Dahms
  • Region 7: Dennis Graber, Grant Olsen, Michael Smith
• Coastal
  • Region 8-10: Kevin Dey, Jason Clarke, Jay Tuson

Zone 3 and 4 qualifiers for Juvenile Women’s and Men’s events taking place January 9 to 11, 2009.

• Juvenile Women’s
  • Zone 3: Stephanie Prinse
  • Zone 4: Merit Thorson
• Juvenile Men’s
  • Zone 3: Matthew Sebastiani
  • Zone 4: Daniel Wenzek