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Kyle Habkirk’s rink from the Victoria Curling Club earned the second of two berths available for provincials at the Junior Open Playdowns in Osoyoos over the weekend.

Habkirk, with Duncan Silversides at third, Derek Chandler at second, lead Matt Chan and coach Ken MacDonald, defeated clubmate Alex Horvath 7-6 in the B-event qualifier after losing the A-event spot 5-4 to Dawson Ballard’s Royal City/Coquitlam team.

With last-rock advantage, Habkirk opened with a deuce in the first end and added two more in the third for a 4-1 advantage. A steal of three in the fifth end gave Horvath a 5-4 lead and a blanked sixth was followed by a single for Habkirk in the seventh and a key steal of one in the eighth.

The teams then traded singles in the ninth and 10th ends for the Habkirk win.

Horvath’s team includes Ryan Cassidy at third, Zane Bartlett at second and Tim Henderson at lead with Cameron de Jong and Dave Bartlett as coaches.

In junior women’s play, Alyssa Buchy’s rink from Kimberley and Vernon’s Megan McGillivray — coached by Jim Cotter, whose daughter Jaelyn Cotter plays third — grabbed the two provincial berths in Osoyoos.

A second junior open playdowns event is slated for Dec. 1-4 in Gibsons and the Boston Pizza sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ Junior Curling Championships are slated for Dec. 17-23 in Langley.

Meanwhile, the Victoria Curling Club will play host to the Island Men’s Playdowns, Dec. 8-10, while the first of two Women’s Open Playdowns is held at the same time in Hope, followed by a second event in Kelowna, Dec. 15-17.

The 2018 Scotties sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ Women’s Curling Championship will take place Jan. 2-7 at the Victoria Curling Club, while the Belairdirect sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ men’s championship is set for Jan. 30-Feb. 4 in Parksville.

EXTRA ENDS: Bart Sawyer’s Nanaimo Curling Centre rink, comprised of third Steve Waatainen, second Craig Burton and lead Keith Clarke, defeated Manitoba’s Mark Anderson 7-3 to claim sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½â€™s first men’s title at the Travelers Curling Club Championship in Kingston on Saturday. It was Sawyer’s first national event and the team lost just one game all week.