Kimberley’s Tom Buchy took the top spot at this weekend’s 2014 Kootenay Inter-regional Playdowns, narrowly edging out Trail’s Rob Ferguson.
“It was a great weekend. We were here a couple weeks ago and struggled a bit. This time we seemed to get a better feel of it,” said Buchy, who finished the final game three rocks up. His team consisted of lead Darren Will, second Dave Toffolo and third Dave Stephenson.
“We managed to get the rocks in the right places. We got an early lead, stole a couple singles and got a few breaks. Everybody was pretty solid,” he said.
Buchy expressed his admiration for Ferguson’s team.
“They’re great guys, a very good team. We’ve played them tonnes of times over the years, and they’re all-around good players,” he said.
Garry Beaudry, a member of the Nelson Curling Club’s executive and the representative for Curl BC, said the two teams were neck-and-neck the day before.
“These guys played (Saturday) and it went down to the tenth end. It was a measure and Tom ended up winning that one,” he said.
Buchy’s win has earned his team one of the 16 spots for the upcoming B.C. men’s provincials in Vernon on December 12.
Friday’s first draw began with a showdown between teams Nichol and Ferguson, resulting in 6-4 win. Meanwhile team Firman bested Norbert 9-3.
In the second draw Buchy’s team beat Firman 7-4.
Saturday morning saw team Norbert win 9-6 over Nichol for the third draw. Later that afternoon Buchy and and Norbert beat beat Ferguson and Firman 5-3 and 9-3 respectively.
On Saturday evening Ferguson beat Nobert 7-2.
The final game between Ferguson and Buchy on Sunday morning ended with a score of 6-3.
“We’ve always enjoyed coming to Nelson. We’ve played here for 25 years in cashpiels and playdowns. The people are good to us here, treat us well, so we always love coming back,” said Buchy.
“We want to thank the Nelson Curling Club for hosting a great event.”
Five teams participated in the event. For more results visit playdowns.com.
