The remaining eight men’s teams joining defending B.C. champion Sean Geall and CTRS points leader Bob Ursel have been determined for the Canadian Direct Insurance British Columbia Men’s Provincial Championship in Vernon February 1 through 7.
Both the Interior and Coastal Championships provided a number of surprise qualifiers – most notably the young Jay Wakefield team from the Royal City Club qualifying through the “A” Event at Coastals in Port Alberni. Wakefield earned their spot in provincials with three quality wins. They had to beat former Brier and World Champion Greg McAulay in the quarterfinals, Jason Montgomery (who was a provincial qualifier in 2009) in the semis, and provincial runner-up from 2009 Jay Peachey with an 11-5 victory in the “A” qualifier.
On the “B” side, Jay Tuson from Victoria squeaked by Greg McAulay in the “B” final with a slim 5-4 victory earning a berth in the provincials.
McAulay’s Richmond foursome managed to get one of the last two spots in the “C” event with a 5-4 extra-end win against Greg Hawkes. Steven Waatainen from Nanaimo claimed the last provincial berth with a 9-4 victory over Jody Epp from Victoria.
In the Interior, Bert Gretzinger and his somewhat more experienced Kelowna team proved they still have it. Gretzinger grabbed the “A” event with  four straight victories, including a 7-6 victory over 2009 provincial qualifier Jeff Richard in the “A” final.
Fred Thomson’s Nelson rink took the “B” event winning 7-6 over Richard in an extra-end.
In the “C” event, Richard’s team from Kelowna finally got the victory they needed to get a spot at provincials with a 9-5 win over Brad Kuhn. Kimberley’s Tom Buchy was able to grab the last provincial berth out of the Interior with a 6-2 win over Vernon’s Tyrel Griffith.
2010 Provincial field:

Geall – 2009 BC Champions
Skip: Sean Geall; Third: Brent PIerce; Second: Kevin Recksiedler; Lead: Mark Olson
Ursel – 2009 CTRS Point Leaders
Fourth: Jim Cotter; Third: Bob Ursel; Second: Kevin Folk; Lead: Rick Sawatsky
Gretzinger – Interior A Qualifier

Who’s in the Soo? Kelly Scott will be.

After a two year absence from the Canadian Women’s Championship, two-time champion and 2007 world champion Kelly Scott will be making a return trip to the Scotties Tournament of Hearts. Scott and her Kelowna Curling Club foursome of Jeanna Schraeder, Sasha Carter and Jacquie Armstrong will be representing British Columbia in Sault Ste. Marie Ontario January 30 to February 7 after a convincing win against former world champion Kelly Law.

Scott fell behind early after Law scored two in the second end. Scott responded with a three in the third end, a steal of two in the fourth end and another steal of 1 in the fifth end to take a commanding 6-2 lead at the fifth end break. Law struggled with the ice for most of the game but managed to score one in the sixth and steal another one in the seventh, closing the score 6-4.

In the eighth, Scott was left with an open house on her last shot and chose to draw for one. Many people questioned this strategy, but statistics prove in women’s curling that you have a greater chance of winning up three without hammer with two ends remaining than you do up two with hammer. Her strategy worked its magic with a steal of one more in the ninth and ran Law out of rocks in tenth end for the 8-4 victory.

Kelley Law had a rough game only shooting 54% while Kelly Scott curled 88%. Overall, Scott’s team outcurled Law’s by 11%.

The loss in the final has got to be a tough pill to swallow for Law’s third Jody Maskiewich. This is the third year in a row she has lost the B.C. final – losing as skip to Marla Mallett last year and Allison MacInnnes in 2008.

Photo courtesy of Randy Kirkoski

Kelley Law’s Royal City Curling Club team of Jody Maskiewich, Shannon Aleksic and Darah Provencal advance to the BC Scotties final with a 9-3 win over Kelly Scott of the Kelowna Curling Club in 8 ends. Scott struggled at skip curling 62%, while Law shot 81%. Scott and teammates Jeanna Schraeder, Sasha Carter and Jacquie Armstrong will play the winner of the Page playoff between Kristen Fewster of the Prince George Golf and Curling Club and defending BC champion Marla Mallett of Royal City Curling Club.

The 3 vs. 4 Page playoff game goes at 9:30am Pacific on Saturday and the semi-final (live on Shaw TV) goes at 5:00pm PST. All playoff games will be covered in our live chat.

Photo courtesy of Randy Kirkoski

Join us in the chat room at the BC Scotties Women’s Provincals live from Penticton. We will be giving live updates and answering your questions about the action on the ice.

Select the current draw below to join in or you can replay the chat from previous draws.

• Draw 1 – Monday, January 4 at 12:00pm
• Draw 2 – Monday, January 4 at 7:00pm
• Draw 3 – Tuesday, January 5 at 12:00pm
• Draw 4 – Tuesday, January 5 at 7:00pm
• Draw 5 – Wednesday, January 6 at 12:00pm
• Draw 6 – Wednesday, January 6 at 7:00pm
• Draw 7 – Thursday, January 7 at 12:00pm
• Draw 8 – Thursday, January 7 at 7:00pm
• Draw 9 – Friday, January 8 at 9:30am
• Page Playoff #1 – Friday, January 8 at 7:00pm
• Page Playoff #2 – Saturday, January 9 at 9:30am
• Page Playoff #3 – Saturday, January 9 at 5:00pm
• Final – Sunday, January 9 at 2:00pm

The Port Arthur Curling Club in Thunder Bay will host the 10 top women’s teams from the province of Ontario competing to represent the province at the Canadian Championship. Defending champion Krista McCarville will be looking to get back to the National Scotties Tournament of Hearts after a strong showing at the Canadian Olympic Trials.

Scores and results on Playdowns.com

2010 Ontario Scotties Home Page

In a fabulous final, Sean Geall breaks through to win his first provincial championship with a 8-7 win over Jay Peachey in the final. Geall’s team of Brent Pierce at third, Kevin Recksiedler at second and Mark Olson at lead will represent British Columbia at the Brier in Calgary.

Peachey had won six in a row to get to the final but seemed to run out of gas in the latter ends. Robbie Gallaugher at lead, Kevin Mackenzie at second and Grant Dezura at third were outstanding in the latter half of the week needing to win a tie-breaker to get into the playoff.

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Can you say “on fire”?

Jay Peachey and his Royal City rink of Grant Dezura at third, Kevin Mackenzie at second and Robbie Gallaugher at lead have rung off six wins in a row with their semi-final win over Dennis Graber of Kamloops 7-6. It didn’t come easy though as Peachey needed to draw full four-foot for the win in the extra-end.

Graber got a fast start taking two in the first end. Peachey answered right back with a deuce of his own in the second and followed with a steal of one in the third. Graber fought back for two in the fourth end to take a 4-3 lead. After a blank in the fifth, Peachey had to draw almost the button as he nuzzled up to his own stone on the button to get a difficult two and take a 5-4 lead.

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