Kathy Smiley booked her Royal City curling team’s ticket to the BC Master’s Curling championship next month with a second place finish at the Master’s Womens Lower Mainland Playdowns in Mission on the weekend.
Smiley, a former Trail curler, and her team of third Kerri Miller, second Janet Klebe, and lead Laurie Shimizu won 3-of-4 matches including the B Event qualifier where she beat the Laura Rampton rink from Marpole 5-2 to qualify. Smiley’s only loss came against defending champion Karen Lepine who went undefeated through the tournament which included a 6-3 win over Smiley.
In Men’s Masters Kootenay Playdowns in Creston, the Garry Beaudry rink from Castlegar advanced to the BC championship with an 8-3 victory over the Al Tholl foursome from Creston in the B-Event. Cranbrook’s Ralph Will, the defending BC Masters champion, won the A side with victories of Tholl, 7-3, and Beaudry, 3-2.
Beaudry’s teams consists of third Don Bedard, second Gerry Foster, and lead Tom Bassett. The Masters provincial championship goes in Abbotsford Mar. 8-13.