Rick Pughe was near, but oh so far away from earning a berth to the B.C. master men’s curling championships.
The Royal City Curling Club rink, including third John Zwarych, second Girard Murphy and lead Bob Byrne, were unlucky losers in all three finals at the Lower Mainland playdowns in Mission last weekend.
The Pughe rink gave up two rocks in the eighth end to Canadian hall of fame curler Bernie Sparkes in the A event final on Saturday.
Sparkes won a total of 12 provincial championships, including eight B.C. titles after leaving his home province of Alberta. Sparkes went on to win three Canadian and world titles. He was inducted into the Canadian Curling Hall of Fame in 1974.
The following day, Pughe gave up steals in both the eighth and ninth ends to Vancouver’s Ken Watson in the B final before dropping a 6-5 decision on Sunday morning.
In the C event, Pughe had a third opportunity to qualify for the B.C. bonspiel but wound up on the wrong end of an 8-5 scoreline to Garth Moore’s Golden Ears rink in the last-chance final.
Royal City’s Jerry Martin rink made it to the semifinals of the B event before falling 7-4 to Watson.
In the women’s masters, held in conjunction with the men’s playdowns in Mission, both Royal City skips made it to the upcoming provincial tournament.
Carol McFadden qualified first, winning the B event final 8-3 over Langley’s Donna Christian.
The McFadden rink, including third Mona Bassett, second Monica Hunter and lead Ann MacLeod, started quickly, scoring triples in both the first and third ends, before stealing a single in the fourth.
McFadden made single steals in the sixth and seventh end before surrendering a 5-4 loss to Karen Lepine of Langley in the A event final.
The Isobel Gardner rink of third Vicky Smith, second Diane Armstrong and lead Teresa Parent grabbed the C event berth with an 8-6 victory over Christian.
Gardner scored four in the fourth and three in the sixth for the margin of victory.
The B.C. master men’s and women’s championships will take place from March 5 to 9 in Creston.
