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Close calls for Richmond rinks at provincial qualifier

Two teams come one win away from earning B.C. berths at Coastal Playdowns
curling
Cody Tanaka's Richmond Curling Club team opened last weekend's Coastal Playdowns with two straight wins but was couldn't make that elusive final step to nail down a berth into next month's B.C. Men's Championships in Quesnel.

Richmond Curling Club rinks narrowly missed earning provincial berths at last weekend’s 11-team Lower Mainland Playdowns in Tsawwassen.

A pair of RCC entries reached event finals only to be denied.

Cody Tanaka was coming off a busy November that saw him help Vic Shimizu’s RCC team capture the Canadian Club Challenge in New Brunswick and earn tournament MVP honours. He also skipped a B.C. rink at the Canadian Mixed Championships in Winnipeg.

His team got off to an impressive start at Tunnel Town, producing victories over Cloverdale’s Brad Rebman (8-2) and Golden Ears’ Dean Joanisse on Friday to secure a spot in Saturday’s “A” Event final. Tanaka made a big comeback against Joanisse, scoring four in the ninth end to erase a 5-4 deficit against the two-time former B.C. champion.

Tanaka’s first opportunity at nailing down a B.C. berth ended with a a 6-2 loss to Daniel Wenzek. The Langley rink took control with three in the sixth.

It was then off to the “B” Event semi-finals later that afternoon and a rematch with Joanisse. 

This time, his team fell behind 4-1 in the early going and surrendered five more over the final two ends in a 9-3 defeat. Joanisse went on to win the “B” Event.

Tanaka still had one more shot in the “C” Event and opened up play Sunday morning with a 7-5 win over Abbotsford’s Dayne Gagnon. However, the B.C. bid ended with a 6-4 semi-final defeat to Stephen Schneider in an all-RCC match-up.

Schneider went on to fall to Royal City’s Tyler Klymchuk. His journey also included a 6-2 defeat to Joanisse earlier on Sunday in the “B” Event final after wins over Rebman and Klymchuk.

RCC’s third entry was Team Bourdage which was eliminated after three straight defeats.