A wheelchair curling championship is being staged in Langley this weekend – bringing together the best athletes from across the province.
With a mix of past Paralympic and national champions and relative newcomers to the sport, the 2018 BC Wheelchair Curling Championship is sure to be an entertaining affair, said vice-chair Peter Muir.
Three teams of four wheelchair athletes will face off for the chance to win the BC title.
The skip of one of the teams, Richmond’s Darryl Neighbour, won gold with Team Jim Armstrong at the Vancouver 2010 Paralympics. In the first round of competition Friday, Team Neighbour defeated Quesnel’s Team Duddy by the score of 6-4.
In addition to Neighbour, there is a spattering of B.C. and national champions throughout the teams, including Gary Cormack; 2011, 2013, and 2015 BC champion and 2010 national champion; Bob MacDonald and Janice Ing, last year’s B.C. champions; and Ellis Tull, who won the B.C. championship in 2016 and was named to the national team in 2017.
And, there’s Team Sticks ‘n’ Stones play of Langley, made up of relative-newbies to the sport, who so will be at their home club this year. They were bronze medalists last year and will be playing at both 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. Saturday, first taking on Team Duddy, then Team Neighbour, to determine who plays in the finals on Sunday.
UPDATE: Sticks ‘n’ Stones fell to Team Duddy Saturday morning 15-3.
READ: Langley gearing up for B.C.’s wheelchair championships
The finals will take place on Sunday, Jan. 14 at 2:30 p.m.
The curling rink is located in the George Preston Recreation Centre, at 42nd Avenue and 208th Street.
The winning team will travel to the Canadian Wheelchair Curling Championship in Leduc, Alta., from Mar. 26 to 31.
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On the other side of the country
Meanwhile, another Langley team is gearing up for the 2018 New Holland Canadian Junior Men’s Curling Championships, which get underway Saturday in Shawinigan, Que.
Team Tardi, made up of Tyler Tardi as skip, Sterling Middleton at third, Jordan Tardi at second and Zachary Curtis at lead, will attempt to reclaim the Canadian title for B.C.
Tardi aims to become the first back-to-back winning skip since Manitoba’s Braden Calvert in 2014-15. Alberta’s Charley Thomas in 2006-07, Ontario’s John Morris in 1998-99, Saskatchewan’s Bayne Secord in 1954-55 and Gary Thode in 1951-52 are the only other skips to have accomplished this feat.
• Stay tuned to the Langley Advance print and online editions
for more on both these competitions
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