Many of British Columbia’s best junior curlers will converge in Vernon after Christmas.
The Vernon Curling Club is hosting the 2019 BC Junior Curling Championships from December 27 to January 1.
The event will see the top eight men’s and women’s U21 teams in the province square off to determine who will be named Team B.C., competing for the men’s and women’s national titles in January.
On the men’s side, Tyler Tardi’s rink from Langley and Victoria is the team to beat.
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For the last two years, Tardi’s rink has won the national title at the Canadian Junior Curling Championship.
Tardi is also the reigning world champion junior skip after leading Canada to victory at the 2018 World Junior Curling Championships in Aberdeen, Scotland.
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On the women’s side, last year’s B.C. junior champion rink, skipped by Victoria’s Taylor Reese-Hansen, is also back to defend its title.
However, there are Okanagan rinks in the men’s and women’s competition that could threaten to unseat the reigning champions.
After watching the young local curlers progress for years, Merklinger expects the draws will be fun to watch.
The championship is free for the public to attend and draw times are listed online.
The junior women’s final is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. on New Years Day and the junior men’s final is set for 3:00 p.m. that afternoon.
The winning teams will head to Prince Albert, Sask. to compete for the national title at the end of January.
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