It took 18 years for the host club to win a title at the Pacific International Cup and one year for the feat to be duplicated.
Another terrific week of action and festivities concluded on Sunday at the Richmond Curling Centre with Vic Shimizu’s hometown rink taking the overall PIC men’s title with a 7-1 win over Arizona in six ends. Last year it was Kim Dennis putting RCC in the winner’s circle for the first time by capturing the women’s crown with a victory over Nevada. The men travelled a similar path for their glory 12 months later.
Schimizu’s foursome, that includes Cody Tanaka throwing last rocks, along with Trevor Bakken and Mark Yodogawa, had to go the longer playoff route in the B.C. bracket after losing to Langley Saturday in first place round-robin showdown of unbeaten rinks.
RCC cruised past Kamloops 7-1 early Sunday morning to earn another shot at Langley’s Darren Frycz team and the spectators were treated to a thriller.
Frycz jumped out to an early 4-0 lead before Shimizu came back with four of his own. It was 6-6 in the eighth and final end when Tanaka continued his clutch play with two perfectly thrown rocks. It left Frcyz with a very difficult final shot which over-curled, allowing RCC to steal two for the win.
Schmizu will now represent B.C. at the Travelers National Curling Club Championships in November.
The momentum from the dramatic win carried over into the PIC final as RCC stole two in the second on another terrific shot from Tanaka. It was 5-1 after five ends when another steal of two sealed the outcome.
On the women’s side, Okanagan rep Lori Olsen, from the McArthur Curling Club in Kamloops, capped an impressive week with a 7-6 win over Sarah Walsh’s rink from California to win the PIC title.
Earlier, Olsen earned B.C. bragging rights and a trip to nationals with a 10-4 win over four-time champion Kim Jonsson from Campbell River. Both teams had finished round-robin play with 6-1 records.
