The former three-time junior champion is among the eight skips that began play at the 2017 Scotties B.C. Women’s Curling Championship on Tuesday night at the Glen Harper Curling Centre at the Duncan Curling Club.
Pewarchuk, with veteran Patti Knezevic at third, Adina Tasaka at second and Rachelle Kallechy at lead, plays out of the Victoria Curling Centre and is one of several teams with Island ties.
“Looking forward to it. Provincials and playdowns are always my favourite time of the season,” said Pewarchuk, who was married last year and did not compete.
“We’ve worked hard up to this point, with a new team, and we’ve done a lot of work on building and getting to know each other. I think we’re ready to put the pieces together and see what happens here.”
Pewarchuk opened the event, which concludes on Sunday afternoon, with a 7-6 loss Tuesday night to Diane Gushulak of the Royal City Club and will face Lindsay Hudyma’s Mainland rink — which includes locals Stephanie Jackson-Baier at second and Carley Sandwith at lead — in Draw 2 at 11 a.m. today.
Nanaimo’s Kesa Van Osch is also back for her fourth provincial women’s championship with sister Kalia Van Osch at third, Shawna Jensen at second and Amy Gibson at lead. Van Osch opened with a 10-2 win against Julie Herndier of Cloverdale.
“I think it’s really going to be a great week,” said Van Osch, who won the event in 2014 with Jackson-Baier, Jessie Sanderson and Sandwith. “There are going to be a lot of great teams here and I really like our chances. We’ve put in a lot of work this season. I think our chances are as good as anyone’s.”
Van Osch, who missed the playoffs last year by a single win, will meet Sarah Wark this morning. Wark moved from the Victoria Curling Centre to Chilliwack this season and was a finalist two years ago when Knezevic won the title.
Defending champion Karla Thompson of Kamloops is back with her rink, while veteran Marla Mallett and her Golden Ears rink is also competing.
Jackson-Baier and her teammates toppled Thompson 8-4 on Tuesday night
“We’re looking forward to it,” said Jackson-Baier. “We’ve got two girls out of Vancouver and two out of Victoria who have been training hard. We’ve had some ups and downs, after starting real well. We’ve been practising and getting ready for this next step.
“Half the teams making the playoffs are pretty good odds, so you’re fighting for that playoff spot and let’s see what happens,” she added.
Teams will play a round-robin through Friday afternoon before moving into the Page playoff system with the final four games of the event televised on Shaw TV. The Page 1-2 game will be Saturday at 2 p.m. (unless a third tie-breaker pushes it back) followed by Page 3-4 game at 7 p.m. The semifinal broadcasts Sunday at 11 a.m. with the final at 4 p.m.
The winner will advance to the Canadian Scotties, slated for Feb. 18-26 in St. Catharines, Ont.
“I’d say it’s a very good field. I think everyone is pretty well matched and I think it’s pretty well anybody’s championship,” said Jackson-Baier.
