The Jason Montgomery rink of Victoria was sailing merrily along at the sa国际传媒 men鈥檚 curling championship in Quesnel until it hit a granite wall known as four-time champion Jim Cotter.
Cotter鈥檚 Vernon-Kelowna rink defeated Montgomery 9-3 in the page playoff Saturday to advance to today鈥檚 championship final. Montgomery was playing Josh Barry of Golden Ears in the semifinal late Saturday, which was in progress at press time, with the winner advancing to meet Cotter in the sa国际传媒 championship game.
The winner of the Cotter versus Montgomery/Barry provincial final will advance to the Tim Hortons Brier national championship March 2-10 in Brandon, Man., which is the ambition of every male curler in sa国际传媒.
Montgomery鈥檚 Victoria rink 鈥� consisting of third Cam de Jong, second Miles Craig and lead Will Duggan 鈥� made a run through the A-event brackets with a 12-5 victory over the Royal City-Kamloops-Victoria rink of Tyler Klymchuk, 9-2 win over defending-champion Sean Geall of Abbotsford and a 7-4 decision over the three-time Canadian junior champion Tyler Tardi rink of Langley, which features Alex Horvath of Victoria as lead.
Also taking part in the provincial championship was the 2007 champion skip Dean Joanisse of Victoria and the Victoria rink of skip Matthew Blandford, third Chris Baier, second Derek Ryan and lead Cal Jackson.
The women鈥檚 sa国际传媒 championship is also taking place in Quesnel. The defending champion Kesa Van Osch rink from Nanaimo, Parksville and Vancouver was unable to repeat and finished 2-5.
The Sarah Wark rink of Abbotsford has advanced to today鈥檚 championship final, where it will meet the winner of a semifinal match-up between Corryn Brown of Kamloops and the Brette Richards rink, which features Steph Jackson Baier of Victoria.
The provincial women鈥檚 champion advances to the Scotties Tournament of Hearts Canadian championship Feb. 16-24 in Sydney, N.S.
