Team Tardi fell a win short of winning the B.C. junior curling title, right before the new year.
After going 7-0 in round robin play, the local U20 squad lost in the New Year’s Eve final of the 2014 Tim Hortons B.C. Junior Curling Championship.
The title match saw Team de Jong from Victoria/Juan de Fuca taking on Team Tardi.
In the end, Team de Jong including skip Cameron de Jong, third Brook Calibaba, second Ryan Cassidy, and lead Alex Horvath along with coach Donald McMullen took an early lead and went on to win gold.
Team de Jong will now advance to the 2014 M&M Meat Shops Canadian Junior Curling Championships in Liverpool, N.S..
That event runs Jan. 18-26 and will see teams from across the nation compete for a gold medal and the chance to play in the worlds in Switzerland.
The qualifier for the nationals, the B.C. bonspiel was hosted by the Chilliwack Curling Club from Dec. 26-31.
The B.C. silver-medalists included skip Tyler Tardi (Surrey), third Jordan Tardi (Surrey), second Nicholas Meister (Langley), lead Zachary Umbach (Coquitlam), and coach Paul Tardi.
The team represents the Langley Curling Club.
“Although the boys came in second again this year, they are determined to fight back, work hard and are ready to try again next year,†said Anita Tardi, Tyler and Jordan’s mom.
BC GAMES SPOT SECURED
Recently, a local team skipped by Tyler Tardi competed in the B.C. Juvenile Men’s playdowns, held in Chilliwack from Jan. 3-4.
Five U16 teams played off for the spot at the this year’s BC Winter Games in Mission from Feb. 20-23.
Team Tardi lost its first game 6-1 to Team McCrady (Coquitlam Curling Club) and then took the long road through the B event, beating Team Fox (Peace Arch Curling Club) 10-0, Team Harbrink (Coquitlam Curling Club) 9-3, and Team McCrady 7-3 in the B event Final.
Team Tardi (B event winner) and Team McCrady (A event winner) squared off with the Tardi coming out on top 5-3 to earn a spot in the BC Games.
The juvenile team including skip Tyler Tardi, third Nicholas Umbach, second Scottie Kryski, and lead Josh Desrosiers will now represent Zone 3 (Fraser Valley) during next month’s Games.