A team of dedicated volunteers have been busy preparing the Richmond Curling Club for the annual celebration of the sport’s grassroots.
The 19th annual Pacific International Cup gets underway today and features men’s and women’s rinks playing daily draws — leading up to Sunday’s championship games — first for International and B.C. bragging rights at 10:30 a.m., then the winners coming together at 1:30 p.m. to determine the overall cup champions.
The event certainly makes a significant impact on the city’s economy with nearly 300 hotel rooms booked to accommodate the out-of-town teams. Most had to win qualifying competitions to represent their region, state or country in Richmond.
The international division features rinks from Singapore, Australia, Nevada, Alaska, Arizona, Minnesota, Oregon, Yukon and Washington. Even the B.C. division has entries from Creston, Quesnel, Kamloops, Parksville, Juan de Fuca, Campbell River, Cowichan, McArthur Island and Williams Lake.
“We absolutely love coming here,” said Yukon men’s team lead Bob Walker, during a practice session on Tuesday. “It’s a fantastic event and the organizers do a wonderful job putting this on. We always like to come a couple of days early as well which gives us some free time.”
The host club will be represented by Vic Shimizu’s rink that also features Cody Tanaka, Trevor Bakken and Mark Yodogawa. Last year, Kim Dennis made history by becoming the first Richmond team to capture the PIC title with an 8-3 victory over Nevada in the women’s final. Washington State won the men’s PIC crown.
The initial competition back in 1998 was called the Pacific Club Challenge and was designated for men’s teams only from the Pacific Coast Curling Association. It evolved into the B.C. Club Challenge and a women’s division was added in 2005. Now there are three regional events — Pacific Coast, Interior and Vancouver Island — to qualify for Richmond. The B.C. winners will also advance to the Travelers National Curling Club Championships in November.
The PIC’s international division was created 17 years ago — creating two separate tournaments that brings the four winners together for the PIC finals.
Round-robin action continues Friday with draws at 8 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 2 p.m., 4:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. Three more draws follow Saturday (8 a.m., 10:30 a.m. and 2 p.m.), followed by any potential tiebreakers. The semi-finals take place at 8 a.m. Sunday, featuring the second and third place finishers looking to advance to meet the division winners.
