With two playoff spots left on each of the boys’ and girls’ side, the competition at the 2023 BC U18 Curling Championships was heating up during the last draw of Day 2 this evening at the Richmond Curling Centre.

The teams have been treated to championship ice conditions thanks to the hard work of Chief Ice Technician, Ken McArdle and Deputy Chief Ice Technician, Cody Tanka along with their team of volunteers  who are working hard from from early morning to late nights ensuring conditions are swingy, fast and consistent for competitors throughout the week.

In the boy’s C Event semi-final, Team McKenzie representing Vancouver and Delta Thistle Curliong Club’s faced off against Team Shelin representing the Comox Valley Curling Centre. The game kicked off with singles for both teams respectively. In the 3^rd end, Team Mckenzie blew thing open with a score of 5, followed by a steal of 2 in the 4^th to make the final score 8-1.

In the Boys Qualifer, Team Blaeser representing Vernon Curling Club and Salmon Arm Curling Club met Team Patterson representing the Dawson Creek Curling Club. Team Blaeser took control early with a score of 3 in the first end however the boys from Dawson City answered back with a deuce in the second.  Team Blaeser wthen responded with their own  score of 2 in the 3^rd  end  followed by a force of one in the 4th to take control of the game going into the second half.  Team Patterson came out firing in the 5th end however thanks to a well executed draw for 1 by Skip, Nolan Blaser in the 5th follwed by steals of 1 and 2 in the 6th and 7th ends, it was handshakes after 7 ends with a final score of  9-3. Team Blaeser (Skip: Nolan Blaeser, Third: Kaiden Beck, Second: Nolan Beck Lead: Koen Hampshire, Coach: Dale Hofer now advance to the Boys Semi-Final tomorrow at 2:00PM PST while Team Patterson will play Team Mckenzie in the C qualifier on Friday morning at 9:00AM PST.

The girls side featured two B semi-finals. The first one was a battle of the Interior featuring Team Arndt representing the Vernon Curling Club and Kamloops Curling Club against Team Manning representing the Penticton Curling Club. In a see-saw battle that saw the lead change hands multiple times. It was a timely steal of 2 in the 7^th end by Team Arndt giving them a slight advantage going into the 8th end leading 5-4 without last rock advantage.  Team Manning was able to generate lots of offence in the 8th end resulting in  a score of 3 which did not require them to throw their final stone to make it a  final score of 7-5 for Team Manning.

In the other Girls B Semi-Final, Team Wong who hail from Royal City Curling Club and Vancouver  Curling Club were looking to bounce back against Team Duncan from Comox, Duncan, Vancouver and Port Moody Curling Club’s. The game started with a score of one for Team Wong in the first. Team Duncan then responded with a score of 2 in the second end, The major turning point in this matchup resulted in a steal of 5 for Team Duncan in the 4th, which helped propeel them to a 9-3 victory in 6 ends.

Team Duncan will now play against Team Manning on Friday morning at 9:00AM PST in the B Qualifier.

Team Arndt will play against Team Dezura in one C quarter-final while Team Wong will  play Team Norrington in the otherC event Quarter-Final also at 9:00AM PST.

Greater Vancouver Curling Fan’s are encouraged to pop by the Richmond Curling Centre to see the next generation of BC Curlers compete agianst their peers with the opportunity to represent BC at the U18 National Championships on the line. Those who are not in the area can tune into all the games on the Curl BC YouTube Channel or  keep up to speed with live scores at http://bot.curlbc.ca//web/

This BC Championship is funded in part by a grant from viaSport BC and the Province of British Columbia through the Hosting BC program.