Paul Henderson’s opportunity at a semifinal berth at the M&M Meat Shops Canadian Junior Curling Championships in Corner Brook, N.L., was swept away after an 8-2 loss to Northern Ontario in Thursday’s afternoon draw.
Henderson and Victoria Curling Centre rinkmates Duncan Silversides at third, second Benton Boychuk-Chorney, lead Jacob Zorn and coach Todd Troyer fell behind 2-0 to Tanner Horgan after two ends and never recovered in slipping to 5-4 in the standings in championship round play.
That left him unable to catch the top three teams.
In his final game in the evening, Henderson lost 7-5 to 2014 runner-up Rene Comeau of New Brunswick to finish up the week-long event at 5-5.
With the win, Comeau secured at least a tie-breaking position at 8-2 behind Manitoba’s Braden Calvert (8-1) and just ahead of Felix Asselin of Quebec and Karsten Sturmay of Alberta at 7-2 with one draw to come this morning.
“This was definitely an unbelievable experience, to play against the top teams in the country,” Henderson said of the week. “This was definitely a great opportunity and it gives you the bug to want to come back.
“It takes a lot of work, going into this,” he added. “All we could do before was prepare against other B.C. teams. Now there are so many things we can take back and incorporate into our practice.”
Henderson does have one more year of junior eligibility while the remainder of his young rink has at least three.
Scare for Craig team
Wes Craig’s VCC team received a scare while attempting to qualify at the Senior Men’s Island Playdowns last weekend at the Campbell River Curling Club.
Lead Victor Gamble suffered a heart attack during a fifth-end break of one of Craig’s games.
“One of the guys [also competing during the draw] came up to us and said, ‘You’re teammate doesn’t look too well,’ ” Craig recalled of the fright.
“He left in the middle of the game. But he’s OK, thank God,” explained Craig, whose team also includes third Scott MacDonald and second Tony Anslow. “We had an extra long break. The ambulance was there right away. We held up the game for about 15 minutes.
“We didn’t even know what was happening, not right away. Luckily, Tony’s wife, Joanne, is a nurse and she knew what was going on.”
Joanne Anslow, a registered nurse in Victoria, was immediately on scene, recognized the symptoms and had an ambulance called.
“He’s fine,” said Craig. “They flew him by helicopter down to Victoria and put a stent in him right away.”
The Craig rink went on to qualify for the 2015 Tim Hortons B.C. Senior Curling Championship, set for Feb. 16-22 at the Alberni Valley Curling Club, defeating Richard Tanguay of Comox 9-2 in the B-event qualifier. Dean Thulin of Campbell River won the A event 7-5, also over Tanguay.
But Craig had also previously qualified his same senior team for the 2015 Canadian Direct Insurance B.C. Men’s Curling Championship set for next week at the Vernon Curling Club.
The veteran skip was looking for a replacement for Gamble.
“We’re playing, we’re going to find a fourth,” said Craig, who begins play Wednesday against Sean Geall. “We’re just glad Victor’s all right.”
