Bob Ursel and his Kelowna foursome of Jim Cotter, Kevin Folk and Rick Sawatsky won the tenth annual West Coast Curling Classic at the Royal City Curling Club with a 7-1 victory over Sean Geall of the Royal City Curling Club  in an all-B.C. final. The win earned Ursel’s team $20,000 and gives them a great start towards peaking for the Olympic Pre-trials in Prince George.

Ursel’s team won eight of their nine games in the spiel with their only loss coming to 2007 Canadian and World Champion Glenn Howard in the semi-finals of the “A” event. In the quarter-finals of the championship draw they ousted Chris Schille of Alberta 7-1. They dropped 2008 Canadian and World Champion Kevin Martin of Alberta with a 6-1 victory in the semi-finals on the strength of a four-ender in the second end. In the final, Geall gave up a steal of three in the fourth end giving Ursel a 7-1 lead and ultimately the game.

Geall’s rink of Brent Pierce, Kevin Recksiedler and Mark Olson played very well on their way to a runner-up finish. The Classic was an important event for the team needing precious points to qualify for the Grand Slam events on the World Curling Tour. Geall has already secured a spot in the British Columbia provincial championship in February in Vernon with their win in 2009. Since Geall doesn’t have to play in playdowns towards the provincials, the team will be without any significant bonspiels to play in beginning in November if they do not earn enough points to qualify for the Slams. The Olympic Pre-Trials, the Olympic Trials and the Olympics have left open spots on the calendar without any World Curling Tour events to play in this season.