Richmond curlers have locked up a berth in the upcoming Canadian Junior Championships in Langley.
Team Tao, skipped by Richmond Curling Club’s Johnson Tao, defeated Team Colwell 11-6 today in Victoria to advance to the B.C. Junior Men’s final tomorrow against Team Sato from the Royal City Curling Club. Both rinks are headed to nationals of the result thanks to an extra BC berth after Nunavut decided not to field a team.
“It feels great. Knowing that we have earned a spot to nationals is amazing. To be able to go there and have a really good learning experience and grow in the sport is a really great feeling” said Tao.
He added the team plans to put everything into the final. “The BC jacket is the goal. We’d love to represent BC. But Sato is playing really well so we need to keep the momentum going and see what we can do.”
Tao took control of the semi-final thanks to scoring six in the fifth end to open up a commanding 9-3 lead. The win improved his record to 7-1 for the championships.
Tao credited the Curl BC High Performance Program for helping the team develop over the past year. The rink also features players from Vancouver and Port Moody. Toby Mills (third), Connor Kent (second) and Michael Nunn (lead) round to the team. They are coached by Richmond’s Vic Shimizu.
The final takes place at 10 a.m. on Thursday and will be streamed on cbcsports.ca.
