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Lower Island rinks book tickets to men's curling provincials

A trio of south Island rinks qualified for the Canadian Direct Insurance B.C. Men’s Curling Championship at the Island playdowns at the Comox Valley Curling Club in Courtenay last weekend.

A trio of south Island rinks qualified for the Canadian Direct Insurance B.C. Men’s Curling Championship at the Island playdowns at the Comox Valley Curling Club in Courtenay last weekend.

Neil Dangerfield’s rink — of third Denis Sutton, second Darren Boden and lead Glen Allen — successfully advanced to provincials for the fifth straight season, claiming the A-event berth with an 8-5 win over Jason Montgomery of Duncan.

“I wouldn’t say it was the easy route, but it certainly was the quick way,” Dangerfield, of the Victoria Curling Centre, said of the three straight victories that pushed him through to provincials, set for Feb. 3-8 at the Vernon Curling Club.

“I’d say we’re definitely happy getting through Islands. Now we can focus on other spiels rather than having to qualify through Open Zones.”

Up 3-1 after five ends against Montgomery, Dangerfield gave up a four-ender in the sixth to trail 5-3.

“We found ourselves in big trouble in the sixth, but we were able to get a deuce right back in the seventh, which was key,” said Dangerfield, who then stole three in the ninth as Montgomery unsuccessfully attempted to get through a small hole.

Chris Baier, also of the VCC, advanced with his crew of third Michael Johnson (who throws final stones), second Corey Chester and lead Sanjay Bowry.

The foursome avenged an earlier loss to Montgomery with a thrilling 9-8 extra-end victory. Baier recorded a deuce in the eighth end, then stole one in the ninth to grab an 8-6 lead. Montgomery battled back with a deuce of his own in the 10th to force the extra end in which Baier recorded the win.

“I guess we beat them when it mattered the most,” Baier said of the B-event final in which Johnson had to draw the four foot for the win.

Earlier, Montgomery had defeated Baier 9-5 in A-event play thanks to two three-enders.

Montgomery — with third Jody Epp, second Miles Craig and lead Will Duggan — then grabbed the C-event berth with an 11-4 victory over Glen Jackson of the VCC.

“It speaks to the strength of teams in Victoria,” Dangerfield said of the trio of teams that all play at the VCC, although Montgomery hails from Duncan.

In fact, the Montgomery rink lost last year’s B.C. men’s final to Jim Cotter’s rink, which was skipped by John Morris.

Meanwhile, Kesa Van Osch’s Nanaimo rink — with sister Kalia Van Osch at third, Trysta Vandale at second and lead Brooklyn Leitch — took one of two spots at the Women’s Open Event No. 2 in Maple Ridge, defeating Kelly Shimizu of Richmond 8-6 in the A final.

Shimizu also lost the B-event final, 6-4, to Kristy Lewis of the Royal City Curling Club.

Those two teams advance to the 2015 Scotties B.C. Women’s Championship, Jan. 21-25, also at Golden Ears in Maple Ridge.